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International studies say Canada’s high-school students are tops—so why do so many struggle in university?
John Bilewicz, a recent Wilfrid Laurier University grad, had a 92 per cent average when he graduated from high school in 2003. He nevertheless struggled in his first year at university, particularly in calculus. “It was pretty bad. There was a huge failure rate in that class,” says the 22-year-old from Collingwood, Ont. Bilewicz didn’t achieve the overall 70 per cent grade he needed to continue in Laurier’s bachelor of business administration program. Many students in Bilewicz’s situation drop out; he managed to switch to the general arts program. (Laurier has since retooled the calculus course and added tutorial sessions.)
Bilewicz’s story—serious post-secondary challenges coming on the heels of excellent high-school grades—is a national phenomenon. With her university admitting so many students lacking basic math skills, Memorial’s Mantyka created what is probably the country’s most comprehensive remedial math program. Before they can take a math course at her university, students must pass a placement test. The one-quarter to one-half scoring at or below a Grade 6 level are put into the Foundation Math Program: three non-credit courses over three semesters. “If you don’t have any skills to actually do arithmetic or do any kind of symbolic manipulation,” says Mantyka, “and if all you can do is begin to punch numbers in a calculator, then your ability to solve problems in any kind of meaningful way is vacuous.”
Other universities are similarly working to find their weak students and help them—and not just in math. The University of Ottawa has hired statisticians to track first-year-student test scores, early in the first term. If a student is deemed at risk, a faculty adviser calls and encourages them to take advantage of tutoring services offered at several sites around campus.
Others have responded differently. As of September, students can gain admittance to Alberta’s faculty of arts with either a Grade 12 math or science—they are no longer required to have both. Meanwhile, in British Columbia, the province still requires high-school students to write an English Grade 12 exit exam, but exams in other subjects are now optional.
So where does this leave Canada’s vaunted international performance? Why the apparent discrepancy between high-school and university performance?
For starters, a closer look at PISA shows that while Canada’s test results put its 15-year-olds among the world’s best, the Canadian lead over the rest of the world is in some cases not large. For example, in mathematics, Canadian students ranked seventh overall on the PISA, yet the distance between Canada and the next seven countries is so small that the difference may not be statistically significant. Canada’s seventh place may not be any better than Belgium’s 12th-place finish; still not bad but somewhat less impressive.
Many people think that Canada’s high standing on the recent PISA tests means that Canadian students are doing well academically. But there is more to this story than meets the eye. In fact, the PISA tests say nothing about advanced academic learning – like, say, the ability to read sophisticated text or explain E=MC2. Rather, the tests measure how well students can use very simple arithmetic and literacy skills to solve everyday problems.
Calculators are allowed on the tests, spelling and grammar mistakes are not penalized, partial marks are liberally awarded for incorrect answers, and the students are never asked to write answers of more than a few words.
The PISA sponsors make it clear that they are not trying to assess the skills and knowledge that one would normally expect to be taught to 15-year-olds. Instead, their test is designed to find out how well students are prepared “to meet the challenges of the future”.
This means that the tests are designed to discover how intelligently students can tackle practical tasks, like interpreting diagrams or estimating results. In contrast, skills like the ability to craft a persuasive argument or solve quadratic equations are irrelevant to the PISA.
Here’s an example of a typical PISA question. “A pizzeria serves two round pizzas of the same thickness in different sizes. The smaller one has a diameter of 30 cm and costs 30 zeds. The larger one has a diameter of 40 cm and costs 40 zeds. Which pizza is better value for money? Show your reasoning.”
The simplicity of the PISA tests means that they neutralize much of the advantage enjoyed by students with advanced skills and knowledge. These tests simply do not tell us how well our students stack up against their counterparts in India and China (countries which, by the way, don’t take part in the PISA tests).
If we want to know how well Canadian students are prepared in terms of more difficult material, we must look at other international tests, such as the 2005 Adult Literacy and Life Skills survey. This test measured both the literacy and numeracy of more than 23,000 Canadians, as well as students in other countries.
Canada ranked roughly in the middle of the countries that chose to participate in this test. According to Statistics Canada, the test showed a decline in literacy scores among young people aged 16 to 25. It also confirmed the results of an earlier study which showed that approximately “42% of Canadian adults aged between 16 and 65 years are below the level of literacy considered appropriate in order to function effectively in today’s society”.
Another more rigorous test is the Third International Mathematics and Science study. The results of the latest iteration of this test were announced last week. Overall, the students in every single participating province (Ontario, Alberta, Quebec, and BC) scored worse than they did on the last test in 2003. At the same time, many of Canada’s major economic competitors – Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, England, China, even the United States – improved their results, significantly out-performing our students. Canadian students were well down in the pack, and the the fact that they outperformed countries like Slovenia, Armenia, Slovak Republic and Sweden should not be cause for complacency.
I hope this clears up the mystery of why Canadian students do well on the PISA tests but struggle in math when they get to university.
PISA is garbage. It is testing grade 10 students on how well they perform doing basic grade 7&8 math. It really measures how many students in grade 10 can function at a grade 7&8 level and nothing more. Can they do grocery store math? If cans of baby mush have measurements …(blah,blah) and costs …(blah,blah) which is the better deal. This is not grade 10 math! Does this sound like testing our students on their preparedness for the future….maybe if we have a global depression and soup kitchen work is the only work available. Lets get real.
There is a real problem in Ontario with mark inflation, a weakened curriculum, a system that punishes teachers for making hard tests and even punishes them if they teach. Lets not forget the get rid of Calculus in high school political balloon. The government of Ontario gave as a reason – Why there is a math anxiety crisis. So a imposed compromise -get rid of Algebra instead since the Engineering societies complained about removing Calculus.
Have a look at Ontario’s proposed Science curriculum for next year, have the students write stories about the Social impact of forces, dynamics etc see (C1.2 of proposed curriculum documents). Does this sound like grade 11 physics? C1.2 “Evaluate the impact on society and the environment of technologies that use the principles of force.” Curriculum proposed E1.2 (“analyse the negative impact that mechanical waves and/or sound can have on society…”) Another example F1.1 “analyse the social and economic impact of technologies related to electromagnetism.” Do we want our students in grade 11 science classes like physics to write stories or to DO real problem solving and real science instead of social studies. Where is Ontario’s next generation of doctors, engineers, pharmacists, scientists etc. going to come from ….(sarcastic answer – Alberta,BC or is it fantasy island)? The US experimented with this type of curriculum and it was disastrous, so why are we repeating their mistake? We have too many social engineers trying to create an education system that will create nothing more than more social engineers. Get your head out of the sand/@$$ Ontario and stop dumbing down the next generation. Ignorance is not bliss its just ignorant.