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Canadian Local Government Performance Index - makes it easy to understand the performance and reporting standards of Canadian cities
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(FB21)
December 12, 2003

Educational Accountability in Manitoba

Executive Summary
  • Manitoba’s current government substantially changed its standards testing policy when it replaced compulsory tests with mostly optional ones.
  • Most other Canadian provinces still have compulsory standards tests administered to students at a variety of grade levels.
  • Under the previous government, all students in Grades 3, 6, 9, and 12 were expected to write standards tests in four core subject areas, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies and Language Arts. Depending on grade level, these exams counted for a progressively larger percentage of a student’s final mark. This gave Manitoba a testing regime similar to that in Alberta.
  • The current government abolished the Grade 3 standards tests and made the Grade 6 and 9 standards tests optional. Only Grade 12 tests have remained in place on a compulsory basis.
  • Manitoba students now write fewer standards tests than their counterparts in any other province except Prince Edward Island.
  • The current government also cut the budget of the Assessment Branch of the Department of Education by over 60% in the year 2000, and funding levels have remained at about that level since.
  • These changes have reduced the province’s level of educational accountability.

    • Educational Accountability in Manitoba - 5 pages (pdf format)

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    Author's Picture Dennis Owens was the Frontier's Senior Policy Analyst (1997-2007). A descendant of homesteaders near Portage la Prairie, he graduated from the University of Winnipeg in 1970 with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Political Science. Over a 20-year career in the transportation business, he rose to the position of operations manager of a Winnipeg-based firm. Since then he has researched and written about Canadian public policy issues for a variety of organizations including the Manitoba Taxpayers Association and the Prairie Centre. His specialties at the Frontier Centre include municipal issues, public education, healthcare and aboriginal policy. His frequent exposure in electronic and print media has included a regular commentary on CBC radio and articles printed in the Wall Street Journal and the National Post

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