Does the EQAO Accomplish What It's Meant To?

I'm all for public education, metrics and accountability.  I just think we need to consciously consider what the implications of a given system will be.

EQAO is a recitation game; absorb info, recognize question, insert info for response.  Done, move on.  It puts a lot of pressure on teachers, who are personally held accountable, on principals, who are judged on results but most of all it puts pressure on students.  If they don’t learn and respond to the question in the right way, they’re failures.

Some argue that’s a good test – life is stressful, you need to learn how to manage stress.  I suppose there’s validity that, but it’s like saying “lifting stuff is heavy, get used to having sore arms.”  We can teach our kids how to do heavy lifting, but we can also nurture their critical thinking and creativity and teach them to formulate different solutions to existing challenges.  Like, say, a lever or pulley system.

Innovation isn’t stressful – it’s fun.  People like making new things and gain satisfaction from doing so.  Society benefits, too – especially now, when innovation is what the economy is seeking, we should be thinking ahead to how we can better and more efficiently get the results we want.  When we teach people how to be stressed, they stay that way.  They stay that way in gridlock, when they get home, when they're at work.  The goal shouldn't be to train kids how to be uncomfortable, but how to be resilient, adaptable, proactive turning potential stresses into opportunities.