Tensions and fissures: the politics of standardised testing and accountability in Ontario, 1995–2015

ABSTRACT

While Ontario has received international accolades for its enactment of province-wide standardised testing upon the formation of the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO), a closer look at provincial assessments over a 20-year span reveals successes as well as systemic tensions and fissures. The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it offers a socio-historical account of EQAO policy and programme enactment. Second, it offers insight into the less-publicised politics of enactment within systems with respect to principles and methods of accountability and their link to instructional systems. Data and findings from various sources shed light on the realities of struggles, tensions in macro-political consensus and dissensus among various stakeholders, and the micro-politics at the school and district levels.

KEYWORDS::

• Education
• education policy
• politics
• comparative education
• international instructional systems study

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Ontario had high school exit examinations in the 1950s and 1960s, but these were not centralised (Klinger, DeLuca & Miller, 2008).

2. Six parents sought an injunction restraining MOE from requiring all children to pass OSSLT as a graduation requirement based on the discriminatory grounds of linguistic, ethnic and special needs diversity of learners (Hunter & Clarke, 2015).

3. For example, a medical issue with a note from a physician would be a valid excuse, but opting out of the test for the purpose of political protest would be an invalid excuse.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Laura Elizabeth Pinto

Dr Laura Elizabeth Pinto is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. She is the recipient of a 2009 Governor General's Gold Medal, and her book, Curriculum Reform in Ontario (University of Toronto Press), was shortlisted for the 2013 Speaker's Book Award from the Ontario Legislature.