Edmonton Journal Column by ED Donna Trimble
It is time for parents, teachers and taxpayers to demand the government stop its overreach into Alberta classrooms. Let parents and educators, who know the children, choose what is best.
Maximum choice creates real accountability, resulting in authentic, high-quality education which benefits students.
Read morePaper Petition Against Inspiring Education
It is absolutely irreconcilable that Alberta Education would push forward a curriculum that many of it's customers, Alberta Tax payers, do not want, and it is even more unbelievable that parents like Nhung Trans-Davies and her supporters, organizations like Parents for Choice in Education, as well as many other concerned citizens must go to such measures as rallies and petitions to be heard by their own representatives. This is the citizen's public education, paid for by each Alberta tax payer, and we want to be heard; we want CHOICE. We are not living in a province with genuine representative democracy if the choice of a few education elites takes precedence over the free choice of parents.
Read morePCE Calgary Herald Column on Inspiring Education
"Parent choice in education will soon be an illusion in Alberta. Alberta Education’s micro-management of core curriculum has overstepped its mandate to provide education objectives for students from kindergarten to Grade 12."
Read moreDiscovering Discovery Math
The issues around Discovery Math and Inspiring Education- which would see this errant imbalance spread across the curriculum-are very plain to see, and very easily corrected. Discovery Math and Inspiring Education has good intentions, but good intentions do not always lead to good outcomes. These curriculum changes have and will continue to lead to poor outcomes because of the heavy handed, all-or-nothing approach that does not respect years of traditional curriculum that has proven its worth. The answer is give the power back to the teachers, and to parents, to choose the best curriculum for their learners, and to start testing on the proficiency of the outcome once more, not on the proficiency of the methodology. If we do this, then every child will truly have the opportunity to become as proficient as they are capable in mathematics and in every other subject matter they engage on in their education journeys.
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