Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra has talked himself into a rather uncomfortable spot. Calandra has raised serious doubts about the future of school trustees, the effectiveness of the provincial curriculum, the design of standardized tests, and the level of student achievement those tests reveal .

The minister has been aggressive in his criticism of the system for which he’s responsible, and he’s hit on important issues. The problem is Calandra doesn’t seem to be sure what to do about any of these problems, at least not yet.

When it comes to education reform, Calandra is a man in a hurry but not in a rush. The minister said he would announce a plan for school board leadership by the end of the year. That has now been pushed into next year.

Calandra will appoint a two-member advisory body to look at curriculum clarity, teacher preparation, the design and delivery of standardized tests and how to close the gap between expectations and achievement. The report of the $1,500-a-day experts will come in September.

The minister deserves credit for wanting better results, but the clock is ticking. Calandra can only undermine public confidence in education for so long without offering fixes.

While the minister ponders what to do and awaits the advice of his chosen experts, let me offer a few suggestions from the perspective of someone who has covered the politics and policies of Ontario education for 30 years. Free of charge.

First, realize that not all wisdom comes from the top and not all power should reside there. Imagining otherwise is always attractive if one is at the top, but what happens if the next education minister’s a bonehead? It’s not a disqualifying characteristic when it comes to a cabinet appointment in Ontario.

The quest for standardization is another hallmark of flawed, top-down thinking. For years, Ontario provincial governments have been trying to create the perfect template for learning, to be used in every school. The thing is, every school is unique with a different student mix and teachers of different abilities. The only person who can meaningfully manage that is the school principal.

Principals are the undervalued people in the complex organizational structure of education. They are managers, but not senior managers; in charge, but with plenty of bosses telling them what to do. Research shows that principals are forced to spend too much time on bureaucracy and not enough on school improvement.

A principal is supposed to be a leader, but why would a real leader want the job if all the meaningful decisions are made by people higher up the ladder?

Empowering principals has not been on Calandra’s to-do list yet, but it should be. Weak schools have to be fixed one at a time, and properly trained principals are the ones who can do it.

When it comes to curriculum and testing results, Calandra should narrow his focus and tackle the real problem. That’s clearly math. Only Grade 3 students in French-language boards are meeting the provincial standards. Others aren’t doing well, especially Grade 6 students in English boards, who have been stalled at about a 50 per cent success rate.

Calandra is on the right track on curriculum. He wants plain language and clear expectations that can be understood by teachers and parents. For generations, learning the basics of language and math was a pretty straightforward exercise. Then education “experts” got their hands on it and turned simplicity into complexity.

Did you know that the Ontario language curriculum expects students in Grade 1 “to demonstrate an understanding of how the seven transferable skills (critical thinking and problem solving; innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship; self-directed learning; collaboration; communication; global citizenship and sustainability; and digital literacy) are used in various language and literacy contexts”?

Entrepreneurship, innovation and global citizenship? These kids are six years old.

Calandra is also interested in enhancing learning data so that the government and the people running the school system know how their students are doing. The province’s standardized tests only look at results in Grades 3, 6 and 9, and then once a year. If a student is doing badly in Grade 3 math, the province’s next check-in is three years later. Not good enough in a data-driven world.

One last thought. Trustees can be incompetent and infuriating but most are not. There are 72 school boards in Ontario, the vast majority of which appear to be functioning properly. Do you cut down the whole tree because of some rotten branches?

New legislation has given the education minister the power to take over a school board for any reason he likes. Calandra has already taken control of six. Best leave the rest alone and help them to do their jobs better.

National Post

randalldenley1@gmail.com