Analysis of an Abandoned Reform Initiative: The Case of Mathematics in British Columbia

Throughout this era of greater educational accountability, assessment researchers have argued that large-scale comparative assessment data can enhance learning within and across systems of education and can foster reforms based on the practices of high achieving jurisdictions. Other researchers are less optimistic, warning that educational reform is fraught with danger. This paper explores an unsuccessful British Columbia Ministry of Education initiative to reform its mathematics curricula. This case study illustrates the myriad factors which prevent the success of planned reforms.

Connecting British Columbia (Canada) school libraries and student achievement: A comparison of higher and lower performing schools with similar overall funding

Research over time has established associations between components of the school library and student achievement. This study was designed to investigate these associations in schools in British Columbia (Canada) where the government provides equitable funding of public schools while allowing individual school districts and schools to determine individual funding priorities. Findings replicated what numerous previous studies have shown: higher student standardized test scores were associated with a school library that is more accessible, better funded, professionally staffed, managed, stocked, integrated and used. Findings moreover pointed to higher student achievement in those schools where greater resources, from the same limited allocation were assigned to school libraries. Results of this study are of practical interest to policy makers, school and library administrators, and educators with a vested interest in student achievement and the future of school libraries. Reprinted by permission of the publisher

The Impact of ESL Funding Restrictions on Student Academic Achievement

ESL instruction is an important issue in Canada due to the large number of immigrants and has potentially impacts on both student academic progress and educational expenditures. In 1999, the province of British Columbia limited funding for ESL to five years per student but increased the annual ESL supplement. We explore the educational impact of these reforms using the results of standardized tests of numeracy, reading and writing proficiency for Grade 7 students. We compare differences in test scores, both before and after the policy change, among the following groups of Grade 7 students in the GVA: students with 5 or more years of ESL (those constrained by the new policy); students with one to four years of ESL; non-ESL students with a non-official home language; and non-ESL students with an official home language. No group of students experiences large changes in test scores due to the reform. The changes we do observe are usually increases for ESL students, and the few decreases are very small. Moreover, both before and after the reform, score differences between groups of students with different experiences of ESL, different neighbourhood socio-economic characteristics, and different home languages are modest in size.English Second Language; Educational Funding

Social Studies in Three Canadian Provinces: A Comparative Exploration

This paper compares the similarities and differences in Ontario, British Columbia, and Nova Scotia’s Social Studies curriculum documents. It finds a number of similarities in the curriculum documents including in structural form, aims, and content. It also finds some differences based on historical contingencies and regional conditions. The paper then analyses possible reasons for the similarities and differences found, with a focus on key individuals involved and contexts, and comments on whether calls for a national Social Studies curriculum should be implemented

Our Crude Handling of Educational Reforms: The Case of Curricular Integration

Failings in British Columbia’s efforts to promote curricular integration illustrate a wider tendency in education systems to attempt systemic reform by responding in simpleminded ways to complex challenges. I argue we must improve our collective ability to conceptualize and operationalize educational initiatives if reform efforts are to succeed. Parce que notre système d’éducation favorise des réponses simplistes à des questions complexes, l’auteur soutient qu’il faut améliorer notre capacité collective de conceptuali- ser et de rendre opérationnelles les initiatives en matière de pédagogie si l’on veut assurer le succès de nos efforts de réforme.

Accountability in Education in British Columbia

Accountability in education in British Columbia has seven elements: reports, large-scale assessments of student achievement, program evaluation, indicator programs, school accreditation, reference sets, and financial audits. These elements are tied to the goals of education and the attributes of the public school system. This article describes elements that have recently been established or modified. La responsabilité en éducation en Colombie-Britannique comprend sept facettes: les rap- ports, l’évaluation à grande échelle des résultats scolaires, l’évaluation des programmes, les systèmes d’indicateurs, l’agrément des écoles, les ensembles de référence et les vérifications financières. Ces éléments sont reliés aux buts de l’éducation et aux caracté- ristiques du système public d’éducation. Cet article décrit les éléments qui ont été récem- ment mis en place ou modifiés.

A Short History of K-12 Public School Spending in British Columbia, 1970-2020

This article looks at fifty years’ worth (1970-2020) of public K-12 education expenditure data from the Canadian province of British Columbia. It asks if spending has increased or decreased in this period and examines the causes and correlates of spending changes. Previous research has tended to assume that spending has decreased during this “neoliberal” period. However, historical and empirical research in this article gives a much different picture. K-12 public education spending in British Columbia – adjusted for inflation – is 250 percent higher in 2020 than it was in 1970. Meanwhile, enrolment in 2020 is only 110 percent of 1970 enrolment. The main cause of spending growth is increase in the number of teachers the system employs, which depended in no small part on the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation (BCTF)’s successful attempts to negotiate class size and composition rules. Other causes of spending growth are provincial and district spending priorities. Successive provincial governments have tried to rein in education spending by legislating cost controls on district spending and teacher contracts but have seldom achieved reductions for long. Spending increases and attempts at cost control are at best only linked partially to governing party ideology, with right-wing and left-wing provincial governments both initiating years of increases and cutbacks. More empirical research is needed, especially into spending’s effects on educational equity and quality, to complete the picture of education finance in British Columbia. &nbsp

How Unequal Are Their Vertical Equity Measures? A Comparison of Three Canadian Provinces

The purpose of this study was to compare the foundation allocation and three special allocations for special-needs students, ESL students, and students with low socioeconomic status in Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia to see what these special allocations look like as vertical equity measures. Because stronger measures are needed if educational equality of opportunity is the goal, measuring how strong vertical equity efforts are is a highly relevant topic. The data were obtained from ministries of education. The data were analyzed and compared to understand the similarities and differences in their equity measures. The results indicate that although Ontario provides the least in the pupil foundation allocation, it provides more assistance through two allocations: the ESL allocation and the allocation for low socioeconomic status students. The possible implications of the differences in the foundation allocation and the special allocations are discussed

Religious Diversity and Inclusion: Policy and Accommodation Practices in British Columbia’s Secular School System

The religious diversity of students and staff within a secular school system may sometimes create tensions. To better understand the possible issues generated by and practical accommodations made with respect to these tensions, interviews were conducted at the district level with key administrators in metropolitan school districts in British Columbia. These interviews aimed to document existing policy related to religious diversity in schools, and understand how school districts address issues related to religious values or beliefs, which may conflict with existing educational values, especially as they relate to curriculum.

Riding Fences: Anticipatory Governance, Curriculum Policy, and Teacher Subjectivity

In this article we question the discursive deployment of narrowing conceptions of the future in education in three provincial cases: Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario. Asserting that educational policy in Canada is grounded in the “future-logics” of educational innovation—reflective of an anticipatory orientation to governance—we critique concepts from each province’s curriculum policy documents: “competence,” “personalized learning,” and “professional teacher.” We ask to what extent anticipatory governance is at work in Canadian policies, and if it is, to what degree does an anticipatory strategy occlude or disrupt the objectification of curriculum and the over-determination of teacher subjectivities?Dans cet article, nous nous interrogeons sur le déploiement discursif de conceptions restrictives de l’avenir en éducation dans le cas de trois provinces : l’Alberta, la Colombie-Britannique, et l’Ontario. En affirmant que la politique de l’éducation au Canada est fondée sur les « logiques futures » de l’innovation en éducation — reflétant une orientation anticipative de la gouvernance —, nous critiquons certains concepts utilisés dans les documents de politiques du curriculum : « compétence », « apprentissage personnalisé », et « enseignant professionnel ». Nous nous demandons dans quelle mesure la gouvernance anticipative est à l’œuvre dans les politiques canadiennes et, si c’est le cas, dans quelle mesure une stratégie anticipative occulte ou perturbe l’objectivation du curriculum et la surdétermination de la subjectivité enseignante