LaGrange Defends the Value of the K-6 Curriculum Pilot Project, Despite Only Two Percent of Alberta Students Participating

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Education Minister Adriana LaGrange says she is confident that Alberta’s K-6 curriculum pilot project will provide helpful feedback despite only two percent of students participating.

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The classroom pilot, which was launched in the fall, includes 7,800 students and 360 teachers, or about one percent of teachers in the province.

In an unrelated announcement Monday, LaGrange was asked if the pilot’s results would be scientifically valid with such low acceptance. She said she believed the pilot would be beneficial, along with the feedback and participation sessions, and is an improvement over previous curriculum efforts.

“Two percent is two percent more than what used to be tested in the past,” LaGrange said.

Alberta Education has been testing field curricula for decades. Nicole Sparrow, LaGrange’s press secretary, said in an email that the current testing process is being used to collect feedback and make changes to the curriculum, while older programs are not.

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“The pilot program that is formally underway encompasses more students and teachers than ever before in Alberta history,” said Sparrow.

The province originally aimed to test the draft with 10 percent of students before the curriculum is rolled out to all classrooms in the fall of 2022.

When asked how two percent of students could provide a representative sample, LaGrange said that participating schools across the province are urban and rural, and “all student demographics are represented.”

NDP opposition education critic Sarah Hoffman raised concerns last week, saying the small sample size would mean the province cannot adequately validate the draft of the material, especially without the involvement of French-speaking school boards.

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On Monday, Hoffman said LaGrange refused to show his homework.

“If they’re sure they have a good sample, then they should at least tell us what kinds of schools, what grades, and what subjects for each of them are being tested,” Hoffman said.

Of Alberta’s 61 public school boards, 56, including Edmonton Public Schools and Edmonton Catholic Schools, have refused to test the draft.

When LaGrange was asked why her office would not release a breakdown of what types of schools, such as private and charter schools, will participate and in what subject areas, she cited safety concerns.

“The fact that the curriculum has become hyper-politicized has concerned us for the safety of those teachers and those students, so we have protected their privacy in this regard, but I can assure you that the information we are collecting from all avenues of participation is very beneficial, ”LaGrange said.

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Hoffman said the PCU government did not need to name specific schools and teachers, and Albertans cannot trust that it will correctly incorporate feedback.

Teachers, curriculum experts and critics have said the draft is Eurocentric, age inappropriate, and does not adequately include indigenous and Francophone content.

Meanwhile, on Monday, LaGrange and Social and Community Services Minister Jason Luan announced that the government will spend $ 1 million per year for five years on the Wellness, Resilience and Partnership (WRaP) 2.0 training project to help students. with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD).

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