And I believe all of the above to be absolute rubbish.

Of course they have their agenda who doesn't? There's a gap in the market for a leftie luvie dovey policy research group to examine the same set of data and conclude that all schools rank equal first after taking into account social and economic factors.

Thing is, nobody sane is that duplicitous. This is the root.

If you're happy to be characterised by the article as being in the % withdrawing their child from testing due to the unions campaign then fine.

You could follow the policy decided on by the elected representatives and include your child in the testing and ignore the FI but instead you play into the hands of the unions. Thats your choice.

Yeah, it would be interesting to know how many parents are withdrawing strictly due to the union and how many were withdrawing for other reasons.

I haven't decided yet what's going to happen when we hit FSA age (not for a few years yet). On the fence. Putting aside the other objections, I'm not sure I even care all that much about my kid's results in a standardized test. I can tell how well she's doing in school.

Even outside of the union I'm sure there are a few out there that would manage it.

The C.D. Howe Institute has been at it a while.

I admit to not having read the thread, but which union are you talking about?

Edit: OK so the BC Teachers Federation (assuming that's what BCTF stands for) are against standardized testing.

They're right. What it leads to is neglect of kiddies education in favour of maximizing testing results so the admin looks good (which they rarely are).

The standardised tests aren't for the benefit of the individual child at all but are just a means to obtain KPIs for schools. As you say you would know beforehand how the child is doing anyway.

What's a KPI and why do you want one?

"Neglect" is a bit OTT isn't it. In the real world there can reasonably be a balance between providing some standardized testing for comparison and transparency and identifying strengths and weaknesses with the slight constraint that might add to the teaching. After all the testing is really very modest indeed - in Alberta at G3, G6 and G9 doesn't seem an intolerable burden. Now if it was a test every term every year I would agree with you.

Shows how good they are don't it.

School should be optional for kids anyway; kidnapping them and forcing them into institutions against there will - it's immoral.

I'm sure you know what a KPI is. I would have thought they were quite popular in universityland.

Key Performance Indicator

Never heard of it. What do they do?

Wiki can explain it better than me.........

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Performance_indicator

I have heard the term in Canada but not as often as in the UK.