E-Q-A-NO!

I borrow that title from an ETFO colleague but the sentiment is my own.  I am not now, nor have I ever been, a fan of the Education Quality and Accountability Office, EQAO.  These tests are by no means standardized and a colossal waste of money.  It takes over $38 million per year to administer and the bill is well over $420 million for the past 11 years.  When we hear there's not enough money for education and teachers and parents are funding the system, it makes me wonder why that money couldn't be better allocated.  EQAO scores are routinely used by real estate agents to sell houses.  No acknowledgement is given to socio economic factors.  The EQAO cloud looms all year long for those students who are affected.  That leads to a reduced emphasis on history, geography, phys-ed, the arts, technology.  Other provinces are doing away with their standardized testing.  Why do we still have it here in Ontario.  If you would like to share your own opinion of these 'not so' standardized tests, please complete this survey.  We can only hope that someone will listen and changes will be made and we can go back to trusting our teachers and their professional judgement.
Complete the survey here or by clicking on the green tshirt image.  You can leave any additional thoughts in the comment section of this blog and the conversation can continue there.

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