Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There is no policy. As I indicated in my previous answer, I have recognized that there needs to be some method of demonstrating to parents and citizens who are helping to fund the system, some accountability. We have to be able to demonstrate just how well the system works. Testing does not always answer that. You can teach to a test. You can teach a student to pass a test very quickly. That does not indicate whether or not that student has gained all the skills they need to make it in today's world, nor does not indicate whether the student has learned all that they should from the curriculum.
We have curriculums set up in the Northwest Territories so a teacher knows just what skills a child should have achieved by the end of the school year. You often get a more accurate reflection of how a child has achieved by taking into account what the teacher says the results are. Not all children do well on tests. You cannot norm a test, make it effective for all areas of our population. We have a wide variety of settings in the Northwest Territories. We have a number of different languages with a number of students for whom English is a second language. Setting the tests up so they would be accurate for all of the people they are given to would not be cost effective.
I was previously questioned about putting more money into special needs. We can spend an awful lot of money setting up tests. It would not really prove just how well our kids were doing, but it would take more money out of the pupil/teacher ratio. It would cost us teachers. We have to recognize there is a cost for what we are doing. When I talk about an accountability system, I am talking about developing a system where tests would be a part of demonstrating to the public how well the system is working, but just a part. There has to be much more built into an accountability system. There should be an understanding among the public of what is expected of students at a certain age. The initiatives the department has undertaken, like working with the western consortium to develop common curriculum for math, social studies and English allows one to look at the curriculum and know that wherever a child goes to school in western Canada by the end of grade nine, this is what they should know in this subject. You cannot always ascertain this through a test. You sometimes have to rely on the teacher to give you a better indication of whether or not the child can achieve that level.
Just last week, a Canada-wide curriculum for science was released. For kindergarten to grade 12, it is a great big book. I can let Members have a look at it as I have a copy in my office. It tells you at every grade level what a child should know to be literate in science. Some of the tools are available, but we have to find a way to better assess just how well our students are doing. Yes, we are working on that, but testing is not the only answer.