For years now Ontario’s elementary students have seen their math skills slide even as their reading and writing skills have soared. It’s a worrisome trend.
Standardized scores from the province’s Education Quality and Accountability Office confirm that Grade 6 students have slipped 7 percentage points in math skills over the past five years, and Grade 3 kids, 4 points. Young Canadians now rank 15th among 24 countries in numeracy skills, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development reports.
Why is this important? Because, as the Star has written before, Ontario’s kids will be shut out of livelihoods in the sciences, technology and engineering without a firm grounding in mathematics. They won’t be able to compete for jobs with talented young people from China, Japan, Korea, Switzerland, the Netherlands or Quebec — where kids are getting better training in math. And in their private lives they’ll have trouble drawing up a budget, calculating mortgage payments or figuring out the odds in a hockey pool.
As Education Minister Liz Sandals sees it, math skills are the ticket to success now and in the future. That’s the thinking behind a new $60 million focus on math in elementary schools to be rolled out this fall.
Under the plan students will get at least 60 minutes of math a day.
Every school will have to have at least one highly qualified “math lead teacher,” and up to three in larger schools. Currently, most students learn math from home room teachers who, themselves, may not be entirely comfortable with the subject. Indeed, Peel region has been sending some teachers to “math camp” to hone their skills.
The program will provide more math training for all teachers, as well as support for parents at schools where test scores are especially poor, including parent tip sheets and online help. That’s particularly important, given concerns that some students are struggling with Ontario’s “discovery math” approach, which involves getting students to break problems down into manageable sizes rather than memorizing formulas and equations.
Will $60 million make a difference? Future test results will tell the tale. But this new focus is sorely needed. It’s an investment in the success of our most precious resource, our kids. That makes it money well spent.
