by
Brian Heese
B.PE., University of British Columbia, 1993 B.Ed., University of British Columbia, 1994
M.A., San Diego State University, 1999
A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction
Brian Heese, 2015 University of Victoria
All rights reserved. This thesis may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author.
Effects of the Elimination of Grade 12 Provincial Exams in Chemistry, Biology, and Physics on Teachers in a British Columbia School District
by
Brian Heese
B.PE., University of British Columbia, 1993 B.Ed., University of British Columbia, 1994
M.A., San Diego State University, 1999
Supervisory Committee
Dr. David Blades, Department of Curriculum and Instruction Supervisor
Dr. Helen Raptis, Department of Curriculum and Instruction Departmental Member
Dr. Chris Lalonde, Department of Psychology Outside Member
Dr. Samson Nashon, Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy (University of British Columbia) Additional Member
Supervisory Committee
Dr. David Blades, Department of Curriculum and Instruction Supervisor
Dr. Helen Raptis, Department of Curriculum and Instruction Departmental Member
Dr. Chris Lalonde, Department of Psychology Outside Member
Dr. Samson Nashon, Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy (University of British Columbia) Additional Member
Abstract
From 1983 until 2011 Grade 12 students in the Canadian province of British Columbia were required to write provincial exams in a wide variety of academic subjects, including Biology 12, Chemistry 12, and Physics 12. These government-administered exams may be considered “high stakes” in that they counted for 40% of a student’s mark, were used in part to determine post-secondary admissions and scholarships, and the publicly-available exam results were used in highly publicized school “ranking” systems. A large volume of research literature suggests high stakes exams of this nature dictate the manner in which courses are delivered as teachers feel obliged to “teach to the test” in order to maximize the grades students receive on these exams.
A major gap in the literature appears to be an examination of the effects on teacher behaviours and practices when a long-standing high-stakes testing program is eliminated. The decision made by the British Columbia Ministry of Education to remove provincial exams in
secondary science at the Grade 12 level in August of 2011 created a unique and original
opportunity to examine teacher pedagogical practices following the removal of subject-specific exams. Specifically, the question considered in this investigation centred upon the effect(s) the elimination of provincial exams in Biology 12, Chemistry 12, and Physics 12 had on the pedagogy and work environment of teachers in one British Columbia school district.
This investigation followed case study methodology. The primary source of data was interviews with teachers who had experience teaching the three aforementioned courses in both the time of mandatory exams and following exam elimination. Interviews were semi-structured and focussed on the effects of the removal of Grade 12 exams on teacher pedagogy and general practices, classroom resource and time allocation, relations with colleagues, perceived student responses to courses, and exam data usage.
The findings from this research suggest that, contrary to popular discourse, exam-generated data is not a valuable pedagogical resource for teachers and a high-stakes exam is not required to ensure full curricular coverage by teachers. In fact, the results suggest the opposite: curricular coverage is enhanced in the absence of a high-stakes exam. Further, not having to spend classroom and external time preparing students for exams has allowed teachers to
implement and explore a greater diversity of pedagogical avenues not utilized during the time of exams. Teachers also spoke of reduced pressures in the absence of an exam. Finally, findings of this investigation suggest the presence of an exam greatly affected the way teachers both
assessed and motivated students, effects that continue to have repercussions following elimination of provincial exams.
Table of Contents
Supervisory Committee ………. ii
Abstract ……….……… iii
Table of Contents .……….…. v
Chapter 1 – Background to the Problem ……… 1
Accountability and Testing ……… 2
Exams and Accountability in British Columbia ……… 6
The Problem ………... 8
Significance of the Study and a Gap in the Research ……… 9
Overview of the Dissertation ………... 10
Research Location and Data Collection ………... 12
Chapter 2 – Education and High-Stakes Exams: A Review of the Relevant Literature ……….. 13
Definition of Terms ……….. 13
Biology 12. ………... 13
Chemistry 12. ………... 13
Physics 12. ………... 13
Biology 12 provincial exam. ……… 13
Chemistry 12 provincial exam. ……… 14
Physics 12 provincial exam. ……… 14
High-stakes test. ………...……… 14
Low-stakes test. ……… 15
Standardized test. ………. 15
The Priority of Science Education in the Secondary School Curriculum ……… 15
Neoliberal Politics ……… 19
A background to the rise of neoliberal politics. ………... 20
Tenets of neoliberal politics. ……… 22
Neoliberalism in Education ……….. 23
An introduction. ………... 23
Markets, choice, and privatization. ……….. 25
Accountability and testing. ……….. 27
Future workers and economic prosperity. ……… 30
Attacks on teacher unions and decreased professional autonomy for teachers. ………….. 32
Financial efficiency and decreased public expenditure on education. ………. 34
Neoliberalism in BC Education ………... 34
Historical backdrop of the 1960’s and 1970’s. ……… 35
The early 1980’s. ………. 36
1983 in British Columbia. ……… 37
Accountability 1.0 – Defining, Regulating, and Determining the Role of Grade 12 Exams ... 38
Focus on outputs. ………. 38
Adherence to ministry objectives. ……… 39
Decentralization. ……….. 39
Economic ties. ……….. 40
University pressure. ………. 41
The Late 1980’s and the 1990’s ………... 42
Accountability 2.0 – Further Defining, Regulating, and Determining the Role of Grade 12
Exams ………...………... 44
Choice, markets, and privatization. ……….. 45
Education for economic benefits. ……… 47
Parental empowerment and school autonomy. ……… 48
Continued decentralization. ………. 49
Arguments Used By Proponents of Large-Scale Testing ……… 51
Assessment of student and program strengths and weaknesses. ………. 51
Teacher motivation and focus. ……… 52
Limitations of the Remainder of This Literature Review ……… 53
The “stakes” of the testing program investigated. ………... 54
Curricular subject(s) and the grade level(s) examined. ………... 55
Socio-economics. ………. 55
The Effects of Large-Scale Standardized Exams on Teachers and Their Practice ………….. 56
Increased teacher stress and pressure. ……….. 56
Changes in staff morale. ……….. 57
Staff relationships. ………... 59
An increase in teacher workload. ………. 60
Allocation of school and classroom resources. ……… 60
Classroom assessment aligning with exams. ………... 61
Assessment format. ………... 61
Assessment frequency. ……….……. 63
Impact on relationships with students. ………. 64
Time spent on test-specific preparation activities. ………... 64
Time. ………. 65
Test preparation activities. ……….. 67
Alignment of curriculum and exam/teaching to the test. ………. 67
Grade 12, British Columbia, and science-specific exams. ………..………… 68
Subject-specific examples. ………... 70
Generalist teacher examples. ………... 71
Impacts on schools serving low socioeconomic and high minority populations. ……… 73
Impact of test “stakes” on curricular narrowing. ………..……. 74
Emphasis on rote memorization over higher order skills. ………... 75
Changes in teaching methods and pedagogy. ……….. 77
Movement toward teacher-centred pedagogies. ……….. 77
Decreased laboratory and “hands-on” opportunities. ………..….. 79
Movement away from best practices. ……….……….. 79
Other notable pedagogical changes. ………..………. 80
Chapter 3 – Researching the Elimination of Grade 12 Provincial Exams ………... 82
Strengths and Limitations of Case Study Research ………. 85
Limitations of case study research in education. ………. 85
Lack of generalizability. ………... 86
Length of research study. ………. 86
Summarizing findings using the written word. ………..………….. 87
Biases. ……….…. 88
Case study methodology does not follow the scientific method. ……….. 89
Easy to dismiss the findings. ……… 90
Values of case study research in education. ………. 90
In-depth analysis. ……….…… 91
Flexibility. ……… 91
Atypical cases. ……….……. 92
Study Location/Research Site ……….. 93
Generalizability Issue ………... 95
Original research and provisional truths. ……….……… 95
Generalizability and practicality to others. ……….. 95
Information for the district. ……….. 96
Participants ………... 97
Recruitment ……….. 98
Possible Benefits, Risks, and Inconveniences to Participants ………. 98
Benefits. ………... 98
Inconveniences. ………..….. 99
Risks. ………..……….. 99
Compensation ……….……….………… 99
Consent ……….. 100
Anonymity and Confidentiality ………. 100
Data Collection and Analysis ……… 101
Secondary sources of data. ……… 103
School district calendars. ……….. 103
Data reports from Ministry of Education to schools. ………..….. 103
Teacher course outlines. ………..……….. 104
Teacher produced final exams, unit tests, and quizzes. ………...……….. 104
Documents corroborating reporting of teacher stress. ……….. 105
Past provincial exams. ……….……….. 105
Teacher Regulation Branch standards. ………...…….. 105
Curriculum guides for Grade 12 courses in biology, chemistry, and physics. ……….. 105
Data Audit Trail ………. 106
Data Use, Storage, and Disposal ………....……… 106
Description of the Philosophical Underpinnings of This Research Project ………... 107
Paradigms and their importance. ……… 107
Paradigm labels. ………. 108
Paradigm status. ………. 109
Rationale for the choice of critical theory. ………. 110
Ontology. ……… 110
Epistemology and methodology. ……… 111
Goals of this investigation. ………...……. 112
What May Remain Obscured Following This Study ………. 115
Comparisons and outliers. ……….. 115
Subject transferability. ………...………… 117
Potential effects on other exam programs. ………. 118
Long term effects. ……….. 119
Biases. ……… 120
Chapter 4 – Uncovering the Control of Exams on Teacher Practice ………. 121
Emergent Theme #1 – Provincial Exam Data Were Not Widely Used by Grade 12 Science Teachers to “Improve” Teaching Practice ………. 121
Emergent Theme #2 – Provincial Exam Questions Played (and Still Play) a Large Role in How Teachers Assess Students ………….………. 123
Emergent Theme #3 – Teachers Produced and Used large Volumes of Practice Tests and Review packages to Prepare Students for Provincial Exams ………. 125
Emergent Theme #4 – Cancellation of Exams Has Not Greatly Impacted Teachers Relations With Colleagues ………. 127
Emergent Theme #5 – Teachers Note a Less Serious/Less Academic Trend in Their Students Since Provincial Exams Were Eliminated ………. 128
Emergent Theme #6 – All Teachers Used Class Time to Prepare Students to Write Provincial Exams ………. 129
Percent time spent on examination preparation. ……… 130
Emergent Theme #7 – Time Was Spent on Provincial Exam Review External to Class Time ………. 132
Emergent Themes #8 Through #11 ………...………. 133
Emergent Theme #8 – Teachers made Incremental Changes in the Manner in Which They Assess Student Performance After Exams Were Eliminated …...………. 133 Emergent Theme #9 – Grade 12 Science Teachers Continue to Cover All Curricular
Objectives in the Absence of a Provincial Exam ………..………. 138
Emergent Theme #10 – Class Time Formerly Allotted to Exam Preparation is now Being Used by Teachers to Explore a Greater Diversity of Learning and Pedagogical Avenues With Students ……….………. 139
Emergent Theme #11 – Teachers Spoke of Reduced Pressure in the Absence of an Exam . 144 Chapter 5 – A Critical Analysis of Findings ……….………. 147
Critical Theory and Grade 12 Exams in British Columbia ……… 147
Grade 12 Science Exam Data Was Not Used as Promoted by Popular Discourse ………… 148
Contrary to Popular Discourse, Externally-Imposed Exams Impede Curricular Coverage .. 150
Removal of provincial exams has led to expanded teacher pedagogy and fuller curricular Coverage. ………... 150 Pedagogy. ………... 151 Curricular coverage. ………..…… 154 Biology. ………..… 154 Chemistry. ………..… 155 Physics. ………...………..… 156
Exam Scores Equals Quality Teaching: More Fiction Than Fact ……….. 158
The Presence of Grade 12 Provincial Science Exams De-Skill Teachers in the Areas of Classroom Assessment and Student Motivation ………..….. 163
Internalization of high-stakes assessment format. ………. 163
Teacher assessment de-skilling. ………. 166
Teacher motivation of students. ………. 170
References ……….. 178
Appendices ……….………… 213
Appendix A – Interview Questions ……… 214
Appendix B – Participant Consent Form ………...……… 215
Appendix C – Participant Invitation Letter ……… 219
Appendix D – Data Report Examples ……… 220
Appendix E – Teacher-Made Tests and Quizzes ………...………… 256
Appendix F – School Calendars ……… 284
Appendix G – Course Outlines …………..……… 304
Appendix H – Teacher Final Exams ………..……… 323
Appendix I – Old Provincial Exams ………..……… 443
Chapter 1 – Background to the Problem
In the 1970s and early 1980’s, a political ideology commonly referred to as neoliberalism gained significant traction in terms of shaping government policy in many western democracies. Many analysts trace occurrences from the 1970’s such as declining corporate profits, deficit spending by governments, the formation of OPEC, inflation, and oil shortages as major
contributors to the increase in public and government favour towards neoliberal policies (Bowles and Gintis, 1986; Faux, 2006; Parenti, 1999; Tabb, 1980). From a neo-liberal perspective, the perceived superiority of free-market forces and the private sector over publicly-provided services should be the central tenets of government policy both socially and economically. Even public institutions held sacred to the functioning of society under Keynesian economic policy, such as schools and hospitals, are not exempt from the neoliberal mantra of the supremacy of private enterprise and markets over publicly supplied services. For example, as education professor Michael Peters (1999) stated “there is nothing distinctive or special about education or health; they are services and products like any other, to be traded in the marketplace” (p. 2).
In terms of education, neoliberal viewpoints envision an education system driven by corporate economic market principles and run via a business management model. With the gaining popularity of neoliberalism, educator David Hursh (2005) stated, “over the last several decades, neo-liberal and neoconservative politicians have reshaped educational policy around the ideology that schools need to incorporate markets, competition, and choice in order to prepare students for the global economy” (Hursh, 2005). Poole (2007) described the neoliberal doctrine as it applies to education in the following way:
Neo-liberals conceptualize education as a commodity to be bought by customers (students and parents) and sold by suppliers (schools and others). From a market
perspective, schools are training grounds for future workers and consumers, as well a multi-billion dollar industry offering opportunities for profit. Efficiency, accountability for student outcomes (usually measured by standardized test scores and other measures like graduation rates), choice for parents (e.g., charter schools, vouchers, within-district school choice), privatization (e.g., public funding for private schools, user-pay fees, contracting with private firms to operate public schools, private-public partnerships for school construction, school-business partnerships), and attacks on teachers unions are hallmarks of neo-liberalism in education. (para. 1)
An examination of literature on the relation of neoliberalism to the delivery of education services reveals many recurrent themes in the neoliberal vision for an education system
represented in the above quotes from Poole (2007) and Hursh (2005). Phrases and themes that continually arise are: markets, consumer choice, privatization, accountability, future workers, economic prosperity, attacks on teacher unions, school-business relationships, decreased public funding, and lower costs to the taxpayer (Ball, 1999; Fallon & Paquette, 2008; Gutmann & Thompson, 2004; Hursh, 2007; Levin, 1998; Martino & Rezai-Rashti, 2012; Poole, 2007; Young, 2000). While each of these themes offers a plethora of potential research opportunities, this study will focus on the neoliberal theme of accountability, and in particular the role of standardized tests as a tool of this agenda.
Accountability and Testing
No matter what the sphere, whether industry or service, public or private, accountability is a complex and multi-layered concept. To be accountable implies the defining of a formal relationship between parties where one party is held to a standard established by itself or the
other in the stewardship of a service, business, etc.. While no single definition of accountability is without flaw, Dunsire (1978) described the concept in the following manner:
Being accountable may mean . . . no more than having to answer questions about what has happened or is happening within one’s jurisdiction . . . But most usages require an additional implication: the answer when given, or the account when rendered, is to be evaluated by the superior or superior body measured against some standard or some expectation, and the differences noted: and then praise or blame are to be meted out and sanctions applied. It is the coupling of information with its evaluation and application of sanctions that gives ‘accountability’ or ‘answerability’ or ‘responsibility’ their full sense in ordinary usage. (p. 41)
With this definition in mind, a series of questions may be raised about accountability in education. Firstly, who is accountable to whom? Is it the government who is accountable to the taxpayers, or is it teachers whom are responsible to government, taxpayers, parents, students, or some combination of these? Further, what standards are the accountable party responsible for achieving and are these standards determined by the public, parents, government, or educators? Additionally, what instrument(s) and assessment tools are used to judge the accountable parties? Is it student test scores, administrative observations, a combination of these, or other methods entirely? Finally, what are the rewards and sanctions for any accountable party in relation to their achieving, or not achieving, these standards? These and many more possible questions create a very murky picture when the issue of accountability in education is raised.
Not surprisingly, accountability as a concept is rarely clearly articulated in educational policy documents (Earl, 2001; Kuchapski, 1998; Ouston, Fidler, & Earley, 1998) and there appears to be no set agreement on a definition of accountability by educational researchers and
practitioners. However Ranson (2003), in regards to the neoliberal view on accountability, stated, “public services… would flourish more effectively if they modelled their management practice on the private sector” (p. 465). In terms of education, a focus on business management practices comes with an almost inherent need to provide quantitative information in order to provide taxpayers, teachers, and educational “consumers” with information that, supposedly, can be used to indicate the quality of service being provided. This leads to what is perhaps the most
publicized and controversial part of the neoliberal governance model in education: accountability through standardized testing.
Under neoliberal influences, assessment-led reform has become one of the most widely favoured strategies to promote more credible forms of public accountability (Black, 1995). Earl and Torrance (2000) note that:
Unlike the assessment agenda of the 1960’s and l970’s, assessment programs in the 1990’s and beyond are part of a broader scheme for changing education. Large scale assessment has become the vehicle of choice for accountability purposes around the world, and testing has become the lever for holding schools accountable for results. (p. 114)
Nichols, Glass, & Berliner (2006) and Volante (2004) reach similar conclusions. With few exceptions, this model of accountability through standardized testing is now pervasive across Canada (Jaafar & Anderson, 2007). Jaafar and Anderson (2007) stated that “this represents another shift in the locus of responsibility in education. It signifies that provincial governments no longer rely simply on their trust in the expertise and professionalism of education civil servants to satisfy provincial and public education expectations” (p. 220).
To achieve accountability measures through large-scale assessments, educational jurisdictions generally align standardized exams to their curriculum which, since education in Canada is a provincial responsibility, is established by the individual provincial governing bodies. While the organization of these curricula will differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, essentially in this model the governing body establishes the form of accountability (in this case, a large scale exam) and it is the “challenge” of the schools, teachers, and students to meet curricular “standards”. The exams are supposedly aligned to this curriculum and are then administered with the intention of enabling students to show their mastery of said curriculum. In a neoliberal framework of
accountability, the results of these tests are used to quantify, among other things, the performance of the student, their teachers, and their school. Such regimes of public
accountability have been strengthened and become so commonplace that they are no longer merely an important component of the system, but in many instances have become the system itself (Ranson, 2003). Ranson’s assertion is bolstered by research implying the presence of large scale assessments leads to reallocation of classroom temporal and financial resources to test preparation, aligning classroom assessment formats with those of the exam, focussing only on aspects of the curriculum likely to be tested, emphasis on memorization of examinable facts over high order thinking, increased teacher-centred pedagogies, and a decrease in exposure to
laboratory activities for science students (Abrams, Madaus, Russell, Ramos, & Miao, 2003; Afflerbach, 2005; Anderson, Muir, Bateson, Blackmore, & Rogers, 1990; Collins, Reiss, & Stobart, 2010; Crocco & Costigan 2007; Diamond, 2007; Galton, 2007; Gayler, 2005; Hamilton, Stecher, Marsh, McCombs, Robyn, Russell, & Barney, 2007; Higgins, Miller, & Wegmann, 2006; Jones, Jones, Hardin, Chapman, Yarborough, & Davis, 1999; McCarthey, 2008;
2005; Reback, Rockoff, & Schwartz, 2013; Samiroden, 1990; Sturman, 2003; Traub, 2002; Valli & Buese, 2007; van Hover & Heinecke, 2005; Vogler, 2005; Wideen, O’Shea, Pye, & Ivany, 1997).
Exams and Accountability in British Columbia
By the early 1980’s the province of British Columbia had fallen on tough economic times. Record high interest rates, unemployment of 13.9% in 1983, and a deep recession crippled the finances of many British Columbians (Statistics Canada, 2013). Also at this time school board budgets were escalating and, with them, local taxation (allowed at this time in British Columbia). In 1981 alone, board budgets across British Columbia rose an average of 19% and school taxes 25% compared to the previous year (Fleming, 2002). Further, from 1976-1981, the costs to fund the public school system increased nearly 80% despite a decrease of 32, 000
students province-wide (Fleming, 2002). These factors, combined with the growing popularity of the previously discussed neoliberal ideologies that began in the 1970’s, prepared an environment for the neoliberal agenda to gain a strong foothold both inside and outside the education system in British Columbia.
In addition, fairly or not, tough economic times such as these tend to put education systems under the microscope as politicians and a large segment of the public lean towards blaming “failing schools” for not preparing workers for the economy (Ungerleider, 2006). In this vein, at around this same time British Columbia’s economy was faltering and neoliberal policies were gaining public favor, the National Commission on Excellence in Education (1983) in the United States produced A Nation at Risk. This seminal report, while American based, greatly influenced Canadian education policy makers. Ungerleider (2006) stated “like the Cold War,
Hollywood, McDonald’s, and countless other things American, the rhetoric of a nation at risk because of school failure overflowed into Canada” (p. 87).
Aside from blaming the American economic slowdown of the times on a “rising tide of mediocrity” (p. 8) in the American public school system, A Nation at Risk also called “for standardized tests of achievement at major transition points from one level of schooling to another and particularly from high school to college or work" (p. 22). Raptis and Fleming (2006) observed that this report “set policymakers across North America on a quest to reform education through greater accountability and to focus attention on the ‘outputs’ as much as the ‘inputs’ of schooling” (p. 78).
The influences discussed in the preceding paragraphs left British Columbians ripe for drastic changes in governmental policy and led to sweeping transformations in 1983. Among other policy changes, the socio-political climate emerging in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s led the government, via the Ministry of Education, to re-establish large-scale quantitative assessment practices that were becoming the norm in both business and government of the day (Fleming, 2002). This movement saw large scale testing in British Columbia move from being an instrument used to evaluate individual students and programs to being used as a tool of
accountability to hold schools and districts to task for test results and the meeting of educational standards (Firestone, Mayrowetz, & Fairman, 1998; Mussio, 2012; Torrance & Pryor, 1998 ). For British Columbia, these factors culminated in the re-introduction of provincial exams at the Grade 12 level in the fall of 1983 (Mussio, 2012). These exams tested a wide variety of subjects, including Biology, Chemistry, and Physics, and each exam counted for 50% (to be lowered to 40% several years later) of a student’s course mark (Mussio, 2012). The re-introduction of these exams was the beginning of a program of assessment that lasted until August of 2011, when a
restructuring of the provincial exam program led to the elimination of exams in all Grade 12 courses except English 12 and Communications 12.
The Problem
The British Columbia Grade 12 exams in the subjects of Biology, Chemistry, and Physics may be considered to be “high stakes” in that these exams counted for a large percentage of a student’s mark – originally 50% in 1983 and 40% at the time of their elimination in 2011. Consequently the exams had large-scale implications for the students’ Grade 12 course grades, grades that were used to at least in part determine post-secondary admissions and the rewarding of scholarships. In addition, the results of these exams were available to the public, allowing organizations such as the Fraser Institute, a Canadian right-wing public policy “think tank”, to use exam scores as part of a formula used to “rank” schools (Fraser Institute, 2010; Raptis, 2012). Rightly or wrongly this publicizing meant teachers, administrators, and schools were judged, at least in part, based on the exam results of their students. As a result, it has been alleged that these exams dictated the manner in which courses were delivered as teachers felt, consciously or subconsciously, obliged to “teach to the test” in order to maximize the grades students would receive on these exams.
“Teaching to the test” is a term generally used in literature to refer to a circumstance where pedagogy, time, and effort focussed on test preparation comes at the expense of other curricular areas and instructional practices (e.g. Anderson, Muir, Bateson, Blackmore, and Rogers, 1990). This alleged focus on the test is backed up by a large volume of research findings that focus on the effects on teachers of high-stakes standardized testing in Canadian and
American K-12 schools. Well publicized concerns in this area include compromises to
less teacher attention to non-test related needs of students (Noddings, 2001, 2002),
intensification of teacher workload (Apple, as cited in Flinders and Thornton, 2009), constricting the curriculum through the reduction or elimination of untested subjects and spending curricular time teaching students how to write tests (Elmore & Fuhrman 2001; Gunzenhauser 2003; Hoffman, Assaf, & Paris 2001; Jacob 2001; Jorgenson & Vanosdall 2002; Mathison & Freeman 2003; McGehee & Griffith 2001; McNeil & Valenzuela, 2001; Nichols, Glass, & Berliner, 2005; Noddings, 2001, 2002; Pedulla, Abrams, Madaus, Russell, Ramos, & Miao, 2003; Ricci 2004; Thompson 2001). Further research noted teacher attempts to integrate pedagogical reforms, such as arts assimilation and inquiry learning, are greatly hindered in high-stakes testing environments (Gunzenhauser & Gerstl-Pepin 2002; Jorgenson & Vanosdall 2002).
Essentially this research tells us that, for many teachers, what is tested becomes what is taught. Gunzenhauser (2003) observed that schools and teachers under intense standardized testing accountability pressure fall into a “default” practice where external constraints (exams) determine the purpose and value in education, little reflection or dialogue occurs between colleagues, and the examination determines pedagogical practice. The result appears to be a decline in morale and sense of disempowerment among teachers (Jeffrey, 2002; Kelley, Heneman, & Milanowski, 2002; Mintrop, 2003).
Significance of the Study and a Gap in the Research
A review of the literature reveals that essentially all research centred on teacher behaviours in high stakes testing environments examines situations where testing has recently been implemented or been in place for a long period of time. A major gap in the literature appears to be an examination of the effects on teacher behaviours and practices when a long-standing high-stakes testing program is eliminated. The decision made by the British Columbia
Ministry of Education to eliminate provincial exams at the Grade 12 level in August of 2011 created a unique and original opportunity to examine teacher pedagogical practices following the removal of subject-specific Grade 12 science exams.
There is a debate in educational circles surrounding the merits and drawbacks of
standardized testing, which will be illuminated in the literature review of Chapter 2. However, at this point it bears mention that a large volume of research on standardized testing suggests detrimental effects for these programs in a variety of areas surrounding teaching. The question then becomes, has removal of these programs ameliorated or even reversed such perceived negative effects and has the removal fostered change in teacher practices? Are there any negative consequences related to the removal of tests?
Overview of the Dissertation
This dissertation focuses on three science courses, Biology 12, Chemistry 12, and Physics 12, whose provincial exams were eliminated by the British Columbia Ministry of Education in August of 2011. There were four major factors in the decision to focus on these three courses. First, when provincial exams were eliminated, exams in twenty-one Grade 12 courses were abolished. These courses covered a broad range of subject matter, from Punjabi to Math to British Columbia First Nations Studies. A study focussing on all 21 subjects would be a daunting undertaking for a single researcher, not only in terms of volume of work but from a logistical perspective. In addition most, if not all, districts in the province did not offer all 21 of these courses, making the examination of a district that faced the elimination of all 21 exams impossible. As an example, schools in the district that is the focus of this investigation only consistently offered ten of the twenty-one Grade 12 courses that concluded with a provincial exam.
Second, teaching methodology has the potential to be vastly different within this wide variety of subjects. For example, a language-based course such as French 12 would potentially employ dissimilar teaching strategies than a course such as Math 12. Therefore, if all 21 subjects were studied it would likely be very difficult to come to a consensus on how elimination of exams affected teacher practices across the board in all subjects. Therefore, the decision was made to focus on the three previously mentioned science courses.
Third, and specific to science education, developments over the last several decades have given science a place of prominence in Canada’s school curriculum and our progress in this subject is viewed as an indicator of our world standing and advantage economically (Amgen Canada Inc. & Let’s Talk Science, 2012). This has served to deeply entrench the status of provincial, national, and even international science assessments such as the highly scrutinized Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (2013) PISA exams. Today academic journals, popular media outlets, and even government websites (Statistics Canada, 2010) often devote large amounts of copy and airtime to the scores of Canadian students in comparison to other nations and provinces in the field of science. These results are reported in the media and scores are used as indicators of the strengths and weaknesses in our science and technology education both in British Columbia and Canada (LaRose, 2013; OECD, 2013).
Finally, the background of the researcher played a role in the selection of these three science courses as a target of this investigation. The researcher has spent 19 years as a high school science teacher in British Columbia and taught Grade 12 science courses both in the exam and non-exam eras. Following the elimination of mandatory exams at the Grade 12 level an increase in enrolment in at least some Grade 12 science courses was noticed by the researcher in
his school. This observation, and subsequent informal examination of this phenomenon, was the genesis for sparking interest in this investigation.
Research Location and Data Collection
This study was conducted in a British Columbia School District and employed case study methodology. The primary source of data was obtained through interviewing Biology 12,
Chemistry 12 and Physics 12 teachers regarding how removal of Grade 12 exams impacted their roles as educators. Specifically, interview questions focussed on the effects of exam removal upon pedagogy and general teaching practices, classroom resource and time allocation, teacher relations with colleagues, student responses to courses, and data usage. A full list of interview questions used can be found in Appendix A.
Further, to help in data triangulation, secondary sources of data were examined. These data sources contained several publications from the British Columbia Ministry of Education including curriculum guides for the three subjects under investigation, Teacher Regulation Branch standards, provincial exam data reports, graduation requirements, examples of past provincial exams, statements regarding the purposes of provincial exams, and reports
surrounding provincial scholarship programs. In addition, school and district-level data were collected including school calendars and district achievement contracts. Finally, documentation gathered from teachers was comprised of course outlines, teacher-generated final examinations, and in-class assessment instruments. Chapter 3 will elaborate on these data sources and their purposes.
Chapter 2 – Education and High-Stakes Science Exams: A Review of the Relevant Literature
Definition of Terms
The following terms and definitions will be used throughout this study:
Biology 12. This is the highest-level official biology course offered at the high school level in British Columbia. It is a non-required (elective) course taken, with some exceptions, by Grade 12 students who have completed the Grade 11 level biology course. The province of British Columbia provides specific learning outcomes that students taking this course are expected to achieve. The now defunct course-ending provincial exam was based on these objectives.
Chemistry 12. This is the highest-level official chemistry course offered at the high school level in British Columbia. It is a non-required (elective) course taken by Grade 12 students who have completed the Grade 11 level chemistry course. The province of British Columbia provides specific learning outcomes that students taking this course are expected to achieve. The now defunct course-ending provincial exam was based on these objectives.
Physics 12. This is the highest-level official physics course offered at the high school level in British Columbia. It is a non-required (elective) course taken by Grade 12 students who have completed the Grade 11 level physics course. The province of British Columbia provides specific learning outcomes that students taking this course are expected to achieve. The now defunct course-ending provincial exam was based on these objectives.
Biology 12 provincial exam. This term refers to the examination formerly administered to students by the Ministry of Education in the Province of British Columbia at the conclusion of the Biology 12 course. Until June 2006, all students in the province were required to write this
exam at the conclusion of the course, with the exam counting for 40% of the student’s overall grade. In the 2006-2007 school year this exam was made optional, with students given the choice of whether they wanted to write the exam or not. In August of 2011 the Ministry of Education announced the termination of the exam program for Biology 12. Thus, the Biology 12 exam no longer exists in any form.
Chemistry 12 provincial exam. This term refers to the examination formerly
administered to students by the Ministry of Education in the Province of British Columbia at the conclusion of the Chemistry 12 course. Until June 2006, all students in the province were required to write this exam at the conclusion of the course, with the exam counting for 40% of the student’s overall grade. In the 2006-2007 school year this exam was made optional, with students given the choice of whether they wanted to write the exam or not. In August of 2011 the Ministry of Education announced the termination of the exam program for Chemistry 12. Thus, the Chemistry 12 exam no longer exists in any form.
Physics 12 provincial exam. This term refers to the examination formerly administered to students by the Ministry of Education in the Province of British Columbia at the conclusion of the Physics 12 course. Until June 2006, all students in the province were required to write this exam at the conclusion of the course, with the exam counting for 40% of the student’s overall grade. In the 2006-2007 school year this exam was made optional, with students given the choice of whether they wanted to write the exam or not. In August of 2011 the Ministry of Education announced the termination of the exam program for Physics 12. Thus, the Physics 12 exam no longer exists in any form.
High-stakes test. A test is said to be high stakes if the results of the test has some form of a major consequence. In terms of this study, high-stakes tests may have major consequences not
only for students, but their teachers, administrators, schools, and educational jurisdiction. In many cases, standardized tests are high-stakes tests.
Low-stakes test. A test is said to be low stakes if the results of the test do not have some form of a major consequence. In terms of this study, low-stakes tests may not have major
consequences not only for students, but their teachers, administrators, schools, and educational jurisdiction. In some cases, standardized tests are low-stakes tests.
Standardized test. A standardized test refers to an exam that is managed in such a way that questions, writing conditions, and grading procedures are consistent for all students. Standardized tests are usually administered to large groups of students.
To help lay a foundation for understanding why Grade 12 exams were written in science in British Columbia, this literature review will begin with an analysis of why science as a subject enjoys a place of prestige in our high schools. The discussion will then shift to socio-political forces at the international, national, and provincial levels that have shaped what defines,
determines, and regulates the role of large scale assessments (with a focus on science courses) at the senior secondary level. The literature review will conclude with a discussion on how these exams affect teachers and their classroom practices.
The Priority of Science Education in the Secondary School Curriculum
While science and science assessments have been part of the British Columbia school system since the early 1900’s (Raptis & Fleming, 2006), we can trace the modern-day emphasis on science as a school subject back to fears regarding national security that began to gain a foothold in North America in and around the ending of the second world war (WW II) (Blades, 1997). While the most high-profile events of this time tended to centre on the United States, they had a major impact on Canadian curriculum reform. As Ungerleider (2006) noted:
A problem affecting Canada with which all Canadian politicians must cope is Canada’s proximity to the United States and the influence that information from US media exerts on Canadians. In the education domain, the most pernicious problem is the rhetorical spill‐over of the dominant media messages about US education in the post WWII period: ‘America’s schools are failing’. (p. 86)
Due to post WW II tensions with the Soviet Union, the federal government in the United States established the President’s Scientific Research Board to assess the state of science and science education in the United States. The report produced by this board began by declaring:
The security and prosperity of the United States depend today, as never before, upon the rapid extension of scientific knowledge. So important, in fact, has this extension become to our country that it may reasonably be said to be a major factor in national survival. (President's Scientific Research Board, 1947, p. 1)
This report eventually culminated with the National Defense Education Act (1958). This act of congress linked education to the budget of national defence and allotted, in today’s inflationary adjusted dollars, billions to both high school and university science education and marked the first time, aside from the GI Bill, that the American federal government subsidized higher education (Kaplan, 2012).
Interest in science, with perhaps a hint of hysteria, increased exponentially in 1957 when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the world’s first earth-orbiting satellite. This event, rightly or not, was widely interpreted as a crisis showing that the science, technology, and innovation of the Soviet Union was superior to that in the western world. The Sputnik launch, and the
the watershed moment in elevating the importance of science education (Blades, 1997; DeBoer, 1997; Hassard, 2010; Kaplan, 2012).
With the end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, national security fears in Canada and the United States, while not completely disappearing, have dwindled somewhat. So why, in 2015, is science still perceived as such an important subject in our high schools? Turner (2008) discussed four major arguments for why we teach science in
contemporary times and categorized these arguments as democratic, cultural, skills, and economic.
The democratic argument centres around the desire to have science emphasize the
preparation of students “to be informed citizens and enlightened consumers who can intelligently negotiate the technoscientific challenges of modern life, politics, and society” (Turner, 2008, para. 14). Curriculum in a classroom following the democratic argument would focus on equipping students with the knowledge to understand debate and make informed decisions on scientific issues such as the environment, biotechnology, and energy sources, only to name a few.
The cultural argument reasons that school science should focus on the enterprise and stories behind past and current science and expose students to the history, philosophy, and tribulations of those who have toiled in this field (Hassard, 2010; Turner 2008). The skills argument focuses on a belief that science teaches students abilities that are transferrable to other areas of academics and life. Turner (2008) stated these skills “include the ability to formulate and conduct experiments, evaluate empirical evidence, appreciate quantitative arguments, carry out inductive generalization, and engage in critical thinking” (para. 18).
The economic argument “is the dominant reason why we teach science, especially in the more advanced and prosperous countries” (Hassard, 2010, para. 4) and “has probably been responsible for the remarkable expansion of science as a compulsory subject in the school curriculum that has occurred around the world over the last twenty years” (Turner, 2008, para. 7). This argument focusses on the need to produce a sufficient number of scientists and
engineers, a “scientific pipeline” so to speak, so that a nation can be productive, innovative, and have a prosperous economy. This argument has powerful implications for why we have large-scale assessments in science, which will be discussed in a later section of this paper.
In a Canadian context, this economic imperative was underlined in an extensive report by Amgen Canada Inc. (2012). This report spoke at great lengths about the need for highly trained and skilled workers to fill current and future jobs in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields in order to keep Canada’s economy prosperous. To underline the importance of school science in this undertaking the report stated “science and technology are increasingly important to Canada’s economic well-being and quality of life. A critical element for our long-term success – as individuals and as a country – is science learning” (p. 5).
Further, the literature surrounding the importance of STEM education often makes references to our progress in relation to other nations as a barometer of how well we are performing. For example, the Amgen Canada Inc. (2012) report noted:
Around the world, countries are placing a greater focus on STEM learning for the sake of their national well-being. Canada, too, must put science and technology at the forefront; if we do, we can help ensure a thriving 21st-century economy, and better prospects for our citizens and quality of life. (p. 8)
Our federal government seems to be on the same page as the Amgen Canada Inc. report. In a speech in February of 2012, minister of state for science and technology Gary Goodyear declared that, “science and technology means jobs and economic growth” (Government of Canada, 2012, para. 2). In addition, public opinion seems to agree; nearly 90% of respondents to a Canadian survey agreed that the interest of young people in science is key to Canada’s future economic prosperity (Amgen Canada Inc., 2010). Further, the already large and ever-increasing amount of media and government attention paid to international rankings of countries’ high school science performance on tests such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) allows countries to compare how their science education system stacks up to others around the world (Amgen Canada Inc., 2012; Hassard, 2010; Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2013; Turner, 2008).
With the rationale behind the importance of high school science established, the question then becomes why have large-scale assessments played such a prominent role in these courses? What has defined, regulated, and determined the role of these exams? While the value placed upon science education is part of the answer, a full understanding of the dynamics at play is found in an analysis of the social and political trends that have emerged in our world, Canada, and British Columbia over the last several decades and the effects these trends have had on education. Generally, these trends have centred on a political ideology called neoliberalism. Neoliberal Politics
Like any public service, how education is administered by government is largely determined by the social and political climate of the day. Since roughly the mid 1970’s a political movement commonly referred to as neoliberalism has gained significant traction in western democracies as a preferred form of governance (Bowles & Gintis, 1986; Faux, 2006;
Harvey, 2005; Parenti, 1999; Tabb, 1980; Ungerleider & Levin, 2007). At this point a detailed discussion of the neoliberal political movement, its foundations, and its implications for
education will set the framework for discussion of the role of senior secondary science exams in British Columbia in a neoliberal climate.
A background to the rise of neoliberal politics. Neoliberal policies have arisen and been implemented in varying degrees and rates across nations and regional jurisdictions. This led Davies and Bansel (2007) to state that, “one of the difficulties of providing a history of
neoliberalism is that it has emerged at different times and in different guises over the last 30 years” (p. 250). Despite these inconsistencies, most authors describe the mid to late 1970’s as the time neoliberal policies began to gain public and political footholds in western democracies (Bowles & Gintis, 1986; Faux, 2006; Harvey, 2005; Parenti, 1999; Tabb, 1980; Ungerleider & Levin, 2007).
In the roughly 25-30 years following WW II in Europe and North America, social and economic strategies generally followed Keynesian welfare-state policies. Under such programs, social justice was a priority, with inequalities decreased through social programs and a re-distribution of wealth and influence (Levitas, 1998). Killian (2011) summed up this time period by saying “for a quarter-century after the war, resources had moved toward working-class and middle-class families, sparking a golden age when a family could live on one wage-earner's income, buy a house, and send the kids to college” (para. 4).
Essentially, at this time the political and social climate favoured the introduction of social and economic rights for citizens. In terms of business-employee relations, “an unusual level of agreement between corporations and workers marked the first two decades after the war” (Hursh, 2005, p. 4) and workers of this era made significant inroads in terms of wages, employment
protection, and workplace safety. Further, women and people of colour made substantial gains in personal rights and freedoms, particularly in the areas of education, the workplace, welfare and voting rights, and access to housing and health care (Bowles & Gintis, 1986). Also at this time, young people on college campuses were engaging in protest and political action at never before seen levels, demanding the free speech rights to criticize government policies (Hursh, 2004).
By the mid-1970’s, social and political changes in western democracies began to work counter to these trends. As workers’ rights increased under Keynesian policies and unionization post WW II, so did their wages. From 1965-1974 the net rate of profit for businesses fell by more than 50% (Parenti, 1999, p. 118). Bowles and Gintis (1986) stated that, “profits fell primarily because cost pressures from labour could not be passed on to consumers in the increasingly competitive and open world economy” (p. 60). In addition, deficit spending by governments, the formation of OPEC, inflation, and oil shortages contributed to the increase in public and
government favour towards neoliberal policies (Faux, 2006; Tabb, 1980).
From an international perspective, perhaps the two best-known examples of the emergence of neoliberal politics were the elections of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in Britain in 1979 and President Ronald Reagan in the United States in 1980. Both of these leaders of prominent world nations subscribed to neoliberal philosophies of growing corporate profits through increased trade, economic deregulation, and dismantling or reorganizing of Keynesian-era public sector institutions such as social welfare, education, and health. In America, Reagan decreased public spending, deregulated high profile industries (including communications and airlines), and famously attacked unions such as the air traffic controllers. In Britain, Thatcher made tax cuts, attacked unions, implemented massive cuts to government social programs, privatized government enterprises, and reduced regulations on business (Harvey, 2005).
Specific to a Canadian context, movement in the direction of neoliberal market-based policies was in part triggered in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s by rising unemployment and increasing public debt loads (Ungerleider & Levin, 2007). Perhaps the best-known example of the arrival of neoliberal politics in Canada was the 1983 budget of the Social Credit government in British Columbia, an event which will be discussed in significant detail in later sections of this paper.
Tenets of neoliberal politics. As mentioned earlier, the rollout of neoliberal policies has taken many forms and been implemented under various timelines over a wide variety of
jurisdictions. However, the basic tenets and underpinning of neoliberal ideologies and policy implementations have many similarities from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Harvey (2005), in his book A Brief History of Neoliberalism, described neoliberalism as:
A theory of political economic practices that proposes that human well-being can best be advanced by liberating individual entrepreneurial freedoms and skills within an
institutional framework characterized by strong private property rights, free markets, and free trade. The role of the state is to create and preserve an institutional framework appropriate to such practices, using force, if need be, to guarantee the proper functioning of markets. If markets don‘t exist (in areas such as land, water, education, health care, social security, or environmental pollution) then they must be created, by state action if necessary. (p. 2)
Critics of neoliberal policies feel this doctrine puts corporate profits, markets, and the economy at the top of its agenda at the expense of personal rights, public services, and the power of working people (Hursh, 2004). Instead of a concern for the social welfare policies of the decades following WW II, neoliberal policies emphasize "the deregulation of the economy, trade
liberalization, the dismantling of the public sector (such as education, health, and social welfare), and (especially in the U.S.) the predominance of the financial sector of the economy over
production and commerce" (Vilas, 1996, p. 16).
With these factors in mind, a shift towards neoliberal economic policies reconstructs the relationship government has with society and private enterprise. In this form of governance, the power of markets and the private sector are the central influences on government policy both socially and economically. Even public institutions held sacred to the functioning of society under Keynesian economic policy, such as schools and hospitals, are not exempt from the neoliberal mantra of the supremacy of private enterprise and markets over publicly supplied services. As Peters (1999) stated “there is nothing distinctive or special about education or health; they are services and products like any other, to be traded in the marketplace” (p. 2).
Predictably, the public education system has been reshaped by the neoliberal ideology in many western democracies over the past 30-plus years (Davies & Bansel, 2007; Gutstein, 2010; Hursh, 2004; Hursh, 2005; Hursh, 2007; Killian, 2011; Sattler, 2012). Since a major intent of this literature review is to focus on the role of secondary science exams in schools, a background into the specifics of neoliberal policies and how they do/may affect education is needed at this point. Therefore the following sections will address neoliberal policies, and the effects they have when implemented into an educational system such as that in British Columbia.
Neoliberalism in Education
An introduction. In terms of education, neoliberal viewpoints envision an education system that is driven by corporate economic market principles and run via a business
management model. Hursh (2005) stated, “over the last several decades, neo-liberal and neoconservative politicians have reshaped educational policy around the ideology that schools
need to incorporate markets, competition, and choice in order to prepare students for the global economy” (p. 13). Poole (2007) described the neoliberal doctrine as it applies to education in the following way:
Neo-liberals conceptualize education as a commodity to be bought by customers (students and parents) and sold by suppliers (schools and others). From a market perspective, schools are training grounds for future workers and consumers, as well a multi-billion dollar industry offering opportunities for profit. Efficiency, accountability for student outcomes (usually measured by standardized test scores and other measures like graduation rates), choice for parents (e.g., charter schools, vouchers, within-district school choice), privatization (e.g., public funding for private schools, user-pay fees, contracting with private firms to operate public schools, private-public partnerships for school construction, school-business partnerships), and attacks on teachers unions are hallmarks of neo-liberalism in education. (para. 1)
An examination of literature on the relation of neoliberalism to the delivery of education services reveals many recurrent themes in the neoliberal vision for an education system
characterized in the above quote from Poole. Phrases and themes that continually arise are markets, consumer choice, privatization, accountability, future workers, economic prosperity, attacks on teacher unions, school-business relationships, decreased public funding, and lower costs to the taxpayer (Ball, 1999; Fallon & Paquette, 2008; Gutmann & Thompson, 2004; Hursh, 2007; Levin, 1998; Martino & Rezai-Rashti, 2012; Poole, 2007; Young, 2000). Since these themes relate to topics that will be discussed in later portions of this paper, each will be discussed below for the purposes of background information.
Markets, choice, and privatization. A foundation of neoliberalism is the minimizing of any restrictions imposed by government onto free markets. As Poole observes (2007):
Neo-liberalism is a political ideology grounded in an unshakeable belief in unbridled markets as the source of all benefits for a society and its citizens. Neo-liberals believe the application of market principles to the public sector will result in greater efficiency and contribute to overall economic prosperity. (para. 2)
In relation to education, traditionally in North America students have been assigned to schools based on geography. These schools are known by terms such as neighbourhood or “catchment” schools; the boundaries for these schools have been determined by educational officials who, in varying degrees from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, have been responsible for their enforcement.
In a neoliberal context, this is viewed as inefficient and can only be overcome “if individuals are able to make choices within a market system in which schools compete rather than the current system in which individuals are captive to educational decisions made by educators and government officials” (Hursh, 2007, p. 498). Within the “education as a market commodity” mindset, parents and students are viewed as consumers while schools are viewed as suppliers of a service, which is to be marketed to these consumers (Poole, 2007). Essentially, neoliberal doctrine subscribes to the theory that this arrangement will lead to a greater degree and improved quality of competition, specialization, and customer service between schools.
In this approach, parents and students should be able to exercise their rights as customers in choosing the school that best suits their needs, wants, and interests (Gordon & Whitty, 1997). Since schools are generally funded based on the number of students they have, schools offering the “best” programs will have the highest enrolments and will thrive. Schools offering what may,
fairly or unfairly, be viewed as inferior programs will have less customers (students) and will perhaps go “out of business”. The belief is this increase in consumer choice, combined with the funding implications for schools, induces a competitive market approach to how financial
resources are allocated to schools, leading to a more efficient use of tax dollars and an increase in the quality of school programs.
As stated earlier in a quote from Harvey (2005) regarding neoliberalism and markets, “if markets don’t exist… they must be created by state action if necessary” (p. 2). Within a
neoliberal framework of creating more market competitiveness and choice in the education system, three major and highly visible mechanisms are widely proposed and/or undertaken.
The first is to create open boundaries within the public school system, which can take various forms. In British Columbia, for example, open boundaries were introduced in 2002 by the Premier of British Columbia, Gordon Campbell, through Bill 34 (British Columbia Ministry of Education, 2002a). This legislation allowed students to attend any public school outside their “neighbourhood catchment” school as long as there was space available following the
registration of “in-catchment” students. This type of boundary-less school system has the potential to force schools to enter into market-type competition to keep their catchment students and also attract those from outside their boundaries (Poole, 2007).
In addition to open boundaries, many educational governing bodies at least partially fund private (sometimes known as independent) schools. In British Columbia, a policy of partial funding for private schools began in 1977 with the passage of the Independent School Support Act by the then-ruling Social Credit Party government (British Columbia Ministry of Education, 2011a). Canada and British Columbia’s still highly developed welfare state and long tradition of “free at the point of delivery” schooling culture would make complete privatization of the
education system a very difficult undertaking at this time (Elliott & MacLennan, 1994). Therefore, a type of compromise has been reached in many jurisdictions where the governing body at least partially funds private schools. This somewhat achieves the neoliberal goal of increasing choice and fuelling competition (public vs. private) within the educational marketplace, with the ultimate end goal being benefit to the consumer who would be free to choose from a variety of options what program best suits the needs of their child.
Another proposed mechanism for creating markets and choice, though not currently in practice in British Columbia, is a “scholarship” or “voucher” system. In such a system the current bureaucratic structure of public education is viewed as an impediment to school
flexibility and innovation. Chubb and Moe (1990) asserted that, “the most important prerequisite for the emergence of effective school characteristics is school autonomy, especially from
external bureaucratic influence” (p. 23). To alleviate this perceived problem, Chubb and Moe in part proposed parents be given a voucher equalling the funding a district would receive for each pupil and allowing parents the freedom to spend this money at the school of their choice. It is the belief of Chubb and Moe that this would create a consumer-driven system where schools
compete for these educational dollars. This competition would trigger market mechanisms where schools providing what is desirable to consumers will attract and retain students, while schools providing services deemed less attractive would lose out in the marketplace.
Accountability and testing. Gutstein (2010) spoke of how accountability in education, and who is accountable for what, is a hotly contested concept between two frames of thought. Borrowing on the work of cognitive scientist George Lakoff, Gutstein labelled these frames as “progressives” and “conservatives” (a term often used in the literature interchangeably with
neoliberal). Gutstein noted that while both camps believe that some party is responsible and accountable for the education of our children:
The progressive view of accountability focuses on the government and the individual. The government must be held accountable if it does not provide the teachers, books, computers and lab equipment for students to have an effective and rigorous learning experience. After that, it is the student’s responsibility. (p. 26)
By contrast, Gutstein (2010) detailed how the conservative perspective on accountability absolves the government of responsibility for the individual. Gutstein summarized this view by stating that “the conservative view of accountability focuses on the individual and the school. Regardless of circumstances, if a student or school does not succeed, it is their own fault for not working hard enough to produce the necessary learning” (p. 26). Under such a framework, any inequalities are the result of inadequacies of the individual, individuals who need to take it upon themselves, without reliance on social welfare, to strive to achieve better.
How accountability in education is, or should be, measured is rarely clearly outlined in government documents (Earl, 2001; Kuchapski, 1998; Ouston, Fidler, & Earley, 1998).
However, in the last several decades the neoliberal perspective on accountability has grown in favour among both politicians and the general public (Ranson, 2003). This perspective comes with an almost built-in need to produce quantitative information that consumers can use as they navigate the educational marketplace. In recent decades the preferred vehicle for providing this quantitative information to consumers has been the large-scale standardized test (Black, 1995; Earl & Torrance; 2000; Nichols, Glass, & Berliner, 2006; Volante, 2004).
Ranson (2003) stated in regards to the use of large scale exams as the primary means of accountability that:
