John Richards and Tingting Zhang
Scores on international tests have been falling. Without better teaching, students will be ill-prepared for a data-driven world.
Canada’s declining K-12 education system is sending out worrying warning signals. In the latest Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), Canadian students ranked in the top 10 among OECD countries. But that doesn’t mean all is well, and the most alarming signs are in mathematics.
Math was the only subject where Canada’s national average dropped below the benchmark score of 500. Even worse, for the first time one of our provinces — Newfoundland and Labrador — scored significantly below the OECD average. Math is fundamental to future economic competitiveness, yet we are failing to equip students with basic numeracy skills.
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