Why does Ontario conduct province-wide tests of reading, writing and mathematics?
» View answer Ontario conducts these tests because, in 1995, Ontario’s Royal Commission on Learning recommended such tests for Ontario students. The Commission made this recommendation after consulting with parents, educators, students and others who wanted greater accountability and assurances of quality in the public education system. In the Commission’s words: It seems obvious to us that the public school system is responsible to the public, and owes it to the public to demonstrate how well it’s doing with our children. It seems equally obvious that in learning, as in most other endeavours, your family is helpless to assist you to improve yourself unless you and they know the criteria for success and how close you come to meeting them. Finally, what holds for the individual holds for the system: its programs too must be assessed to determine if they’re working properly. So we take a stand on behalf of close monitoring of every child’s progress right from the earliest years, and of t
