March 4, 1999

Honourable Wayne Gaudet, MLA
Minister of Education and Culture
Trade Mart, 4th Floor
2021 Brunswick St
P.O. Box 578
Halifax, NS B3J 2S9

Dear Mr. Gaudet:

We are writing on behalf of the Halifax District Parent Teacher Association (HDPTA) to request that the Department of Education (DOE) reverse its newly stated policy to remove honours (advanced) courses from the High School curriculum, specifically grade 10. We will refer to the Public Schools Programs (PSP) document 1997-98 and the Interim Policy on Advanced Courses (Jan. 1999). We will briefly provide the background and clearly illustrate that the policy which has been proposed for next year is flawed both in process and execution.

1. On page B-16 of the PSP document under "Advanced Courses" it states " The DOE is studying ways to strengthen advanced courses. The final paragraph in that section clearly states that "Previously existing locally developed courses will be reviewed during 1997-99 and may continue subject to that review". To our knowledge results of this review have not been published or presented to any parent or teacher groups and we are unaware of what data has been collected.

2. In the Interim Policy, the guidelines indicate that Goal One of the plan is to "achieve excellence in programming" demonstrated partly through the provisions of "appropriate" and "challenging" opportunities accessible to all students. The third paragraph of this guideline recognizes the importance of providing a wide range of learning experiences to accommodate the diverse needs of senior high school students. None of these statements support the removal of advanced courses.

3. In the second paragraph of the Interim Policy Document it says that input on the DOE PSP discussion paper in Jan. 1996, from educational partners indicated "broad-based" support for the preservation of advanced courses and the preponderance of opinion was that further study of advanced courses be undertaken and that the DOE would consider ways to strengthen advanced courses. These statements again do not support removal of advanced courses.

On page two of the Interim Policy, the number one and two policies for implementation in Sept. 1999 state that advanced courses will be removed from the Grade 10 curriculum and are inconsistent with the notion of strengthening and contradictory to the preponderance of opinion on advanced courses as indicated above.

We are unaware of the DOE studies that have been conducted over the past few years to support this new policy. We oppose the removal of advanced courses in grade 10 and although not clearly stated, the apparent removal of advanced English from grades 11 and 12. We have had numerous calls from parents, discussions with teachers, principals and students and there is continued support for the preservation of advanced course offerings at the High School Level in the Halifax area. High School is where students begin to plan their careers and limiting their academic choices would be unfair.

From what we know, this decision was made without any consultation and without regard for the consultation provided in 1996. We are asking for accountability on the part of the DOE for this decision and a reversal of this decision until appropriate fact gathering and consultative study has been conducted.

We have several concerns about the removal of advanced courses from the High School curriculum and will briefly touch on a few.

1. First we have concern with the process and the disregard for the input provided by the educational partners. This includes the lack of any objective data to support a decision. Old data from other provinces or states should be avoided since overgeneralization of results often leads to flawed decision making.

2. Secondly, any policy should not remove choices for students who wish to be challenged in a particular area of study. Students who wish to do advanced study in a particular area should have access to this in the Public School System. As well, students who do not wish to pursue an area at the advanced level should have that opportunity as well. The removal of advanced courses will force even more students into the private school system and will discriminate against those who are unable to take advantage of that route due to financial or other reasons. While we support the need for establishing a minimum standard for educational objectives, we do not support restricting opportunities to excel, in particular in our technically--advanced society.

3. If the notion is to keep advanced courses in Grade 11 and 12, then students must be prepared with the appropriate background and this needs to begin at grade 10 or earlier. The DOE states that it will recognize the international baccalaureate (IB) program for grades 11 and 12, but the IB program will be jeopardized if programs are not in place to prepare students. Also realistically, the IB program will only be accessible for a very small number of students.

4. Advanced courses may not be necessary or appropriate in all parts of the province, however, if locally developed courses meet the needs of a particular community and meet the objectives of the DOE curriculum, then the DOE should not prevent these courses from being offered. It is hoped that School Advisory Councils are not merely an attempt to appease the community by suggesting that their input is being sought on specific issues. Hopefully community input would be sought on the effectiveness of delivering appropriate courses within their local environment. Obviously there is a need for monitoring to ensure that the educational objectives as established by the DOE are being met by a specific course, but, to prevent students from excelling in a specific area of study by preventing advanced courses from being offered is oppressive and appears to be dictatorial.

We request that you hold public meetings to discuss this issue. We would assist you in organizing one in the Halifax area and you may contact either of the undersigned. We ask that you provide us (HDPTA) with an outline of the process used to make this decision of removing advanced courses. We would also ask that you provide the data upon which this decision was based. We ask that this information be forwarded as soon as possible. Finally we request that the policy be held in abeyance until full and appropriate consultation is completed with education partners.

We believe we have the strong support from the Halifax Regional School Board Chair who recently brought this issue to a meeting of the Nova Scotia School Boards (NSSB) Association and the DOE. Our understanding is that there is empathy with the NSSB Association, but the need for advanced courses would not apply to all School Boards. Some School Boards with small High School enrollments maybe can offer more individualized programs. We want you to understand that the opinion of the educational partners has not changed since 1996 and that there is strong support for advanced courses.

We would appreciate a response and the requested documentation as soon as possible. You can direct the response to either Co-chair (mailing address above) so that we can proceed with the process. If you have any questions or require clarification please call either Co-chair.

Sincerely

Cheryl Kozey Co Chair : 425-3232 (H) / 494-2635 (W)
Dick Tilley Co-Chair : 429-8884