Immersion Madeleine Dubé says education minister 'went looking for someone who would say the same thing as he wanted'
MEGAN O'TOOLE, TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL, Wednesday June 4th, 2008
FREDERICTON - An e-mail exchange that has fuelled fierce debate over the province's French second-language reforms proves the government's conclusion on immersion was predetermined, according to education critic Madeleine Dubé.
The government-commissioned report on French second language programming was drawn up with the express purpose of supporting Education Minister Kelly Lamrock's decision to axe early immersion, Dubé contended Tuesday.
"We've been saying all along that the minister had made up his mind," she said. "He could have chosen to consult with people and get the opinions of people, specifically of the experts in the field, but he just went looking for someone who would say the same thing as he wanted.
"I think everything's coming to light now."
At the heart of the controversy are documents obtained through a Right to Information request, including e-mails from James Croll, the co-author of the report the province used as the basis for its decision to kill early immersion.
In one message, Croll discusses the need to gather specific pieces of data to "make the case" for streaming, which he pegs as a "critical" issue that has "been raised by senior personnel."
Citizens for Educational Choice, a group that has taken the government to court over its French second language reforms, claims the exchange shows the government made a decision on the fate of early immersion and then sought data to back it up.
Education Minister Kelly Lamrock denies there's anything suspect about the e-mails, saying numerous studies - such as the oft-touted MacKay report on inclusion - have pointed to streaming as a major problem. It followed naturally that researchers would examine data on the topic, he added.
"From the moment we were elected we knew that streaming and segregation were a problem," Lamrock said. "As to how we would deal with it, everything was on the table. We were wide open to ideas."
Data gathered by the report's authors were "double- and triple-checked" by the department, he added.
Lamrock questioned the intentions of those criticizing the e-mail exchange, saying it represents "a new phase" of the immersion debate.
"They can't argue policy, so they're going to argue personalities and process," he said.
Also on Tuesday, the francophone teachers association issued a news release indicating the group has asked the province to proclaim a one-year moratorium on changes to the public school system, during which the state of the system could be assessed.
"New Brunswick has reached a point at which it is important to step back and reflect, francophones and anglophones together, on what we want the education system in this province to be and to consider the unique challenges facing each of our linguistic communities," association president Marcel Larocque said in a statement.
Dubé raised the matter during Question Period, saying it shows teachers are unhappy with the direction the education system has been moving and underlines the need for further consultation.
But Lamrock dismissed the idea, saying it would not make sense to postpone a number of key changes designed to benefit students.
"Governments have found a lot of excuses to wait a year when things are controversial or difficult," he said. "I don't think that's a credible position to take."
Click here to link to article and see comments on the web
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Proof is in the e-mails: education critic
Letters | Family reconsiders moving to New Brunswick
Daily Gleaner
Published Wednesday June 4th, 2008
This letter was sent to Education Minister Kelly Lamrock
I am writing to you to express my concerns over the proposed elimination of the early French immersion program in New Brunswick.
We are a family from Alberta who will be moving to New Brunswick in July this year. This decision greatly affects our family, even to the point where I am wondering whether we should be moving to the province at all.
My youngest child will not have the option to study early French immersion in New Brunswick. When we return to Alberta, he will have missed out on the basics of early French immersion and his transition into French immersion here will be that much more difficult. By then, it might not even be an option for him.
My second child will also be missing out on core French (learning a second language has become mandatory in Alberta beginning in Grade 4). She, too, will be missing out on the language instruction which she will be expected to pick up and continue upon our return.
Lastly, my eldest daughter, who has done French immersion since Grade 1, will fortunately have the opportunity to continue in the immersion program.
However, our choice of schools has become greatly limited, as we wanted to have our children attend the same school.
I was so looking forward to coming to New Brunswick because I knew that it was the only officially bilingual province in Canada. This changes everything.
And now I am wondering if the children and I should even come at all. It might be better for my husband to come to your province alone and work, and for the children and I to stay in order to protect the integrity of their education.
For us, the choice has come down to having our family separated, or jeopardize the educational future of our children.
Did you consider any of this when you made your decision? Did you even stop long enough to give people whom it would affect the most, the opportunity to at least let you know how it would affect them?
Furthermore, as a new Canadian, I understand that one of my rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is that my children (all Canadian citizens) have the right to be educated in either of Canada's official languages.
Could you please clarify this for me, Mr. Lamrock? Or have I misunderstood my rights and freedoms?
Janelle Jorgensen, Pincher Creek, Alta.
Speaking out on behalf of teachers who can't
Because a "code of professional conduct" precludes school teachers from expressing any opposition to Education Minister Kelly Lamrock's stream of announcements, I, a retired school teacher, will make a plea on their behalf.
Mr. Lamrock, please stop pretending that you have personally invented all innovative modes of teaching from the past 50 years. When at Park Street Elementary School, you stated: "We have to break away from the idea that learning happens in silos."
With those words, you insulted every elementary teacher who works in this province, and just about everyone who trained them.
These people have thought and worked hard to provide integrated teaching environments well before you arrived as minister of education. In fact, I venture to guess that many of them taught math with song when you were still in diapers. Similarly, how can you claim that out-of-class events introducing students to the French culture of New Brunswick is a new idea, much less a "hidden X factor" in education?
You might be surprised at how many school visits to Le Pays de la Sagouine took place before you took office. The only important difference in the future will be that none of the children visiting from elementary schools will know a single word of French. That's the one change that you and the Graham government can honestly call all your own, since nobody before had even proposed it.
But you know what the citizens of this bilingual province think of that.
Pearl Bryenton, Fredericton
Telegraph-Journal
Liberal MLAs: Take a stand
To the Liberal MLAs: Rest assured while education may not be your portfolio, you are all being tainted with Minister Lamrock's experiment in social policy.
In private, you may have questions about his plan to eliminate EFI or force all children into an experimental intensive French program. You may even completely disagree with his decision, but we the public will never know unless you take a stand.
Great politicians and public servants are not known for their ability to toe the party line. Rather, we respect and admire those willing to take a stand against poor policy and bad decisions.
After this fiasco, Kelly Lamrock will be nothing more than a footnote in the pages of New Brunswick political history. Those that step forward to put an end to this mockery of our bilingual culture will be the individuals our children will be learning about and discussing as models years from now. Take a stand, MLAs. You represent the people of New Brunswick, not the Liberal Party of New Brunswick. Force the Premier and Education Minister to reverse the FSL changes.
SUE PARK, Saint John
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
What they are doing with FSL training in other regions
Bloggers' note: The following is an excerpt from the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board's Webpage outlining their changes to FSL instruction in Ottawa. Notice that they have decided against continuing Late French Immersion and have decided to focus more on early and now middle immersion for a number of reasons outlined below. ___________________________
Ottawa-Carleton Board of Education
French as a Second Language — Important Changes You Need to Know
Early in 2007 we initiated a review of French as a Second Language (FSL) programs, both at the elementary and secondary levels. The objectives for the elementary school phase of the FSL review were to:
- improve the effectiveness of delivery and instruction for FSL programs
- ensure that students throughout the school district have equitable access to FSL programs
- ensure that FSL programs have viable and sustainable enrolments
- ensure that FSL programs are cost effective
As a result of our elementary school phase review, we are phasing out the Late French Immersion (LFI) program beginning in September 2008. The phase-out strategy will ensure that, subject to sufficient enrolment, students currently enrolled in grades 4 through 7 will continue to have access to Late French Immersion.
Therefore, beginning in September 2008, French as a Second Language delivery in our elementary schools will be:
- Core French (Junior Kindergarten to grade 8)
- Early French Immersion (EFI) (SK to grade 8)
- Middle French Immersion (MFI) (grades 4 to 8)
Late French Immersion will only be offered in accordance with the phase-out plan.
___________________________________
You can also read their French as a Second Language Fact Sheet
PARENTS WELCOME EFI JUDICIAL REVIEW HEARING
Saint John (New Brunswick) – June 4, 2008
Parents across the province today are welcoming the judicial review hearing against the elimination of Early French Immersion (EFI) being held at the Court of Queens Bench in Saint John.
A group of parents retained lawyer Thomas Christie to argue on their behalf that the Minister of Education rushed through the changes to the French Second Language (FSL) education program without engaging in a reasonable period of public consultation. They believe that the Minister also showed no consideration for the impact on families who had already registered their children for Grade 1 EFI starting September 2008.
Lawyers representing both the Department of Education and parents seeking a delay to the FSL program changes will present their legal briefs to the Court. Both sides have submitted affidavits to support their cases, including three from parents whose kindergarteners were due to start EFI this fall.
One of those included the Woodstock-based Marcoux family. They are a francophone family who, with the elimination of EFI, will no longer able to access French language education for their children.
The group of parents believe that even if the judge rules against them, the case has represented an important opportunity for keeping debate on the FSL program changes alive.
“Going to court has been a last resort for parents who are dismayed at the elimination of Early French Immersion and the other changes made by the government to the French Second Language programming in our province,” said Tim Jackson, one of the parent-organizers behind the Judicial Review. “Even if the judge does not find that the government has broken the law, we still believe it has a moral obligation to consult broadly with stakeholders for a change of this magnitude to the education system. Such a disregard for consultation and due process is a consequence of both the current government’s attitude to consultation and flaws in the New Brunswick Education Act.”
The parents also believe the issue goes beyond simply reinstating EFI this fall.
“We hope that the judicial review process will uphold the rights of New Brunswick children and parents to have choice in education not only for September 2008 but beyond 2008 as well,” said Paula Small, one of the parents who submitted an affidavit to the hearing. “Many parents have come forward to voice their support to us in this process. We must continue to work with the government to ensure choice is returned permanently in New Brunswick's education policy."
The group has established a Fund for donations to offset legal costs of the case. Information on how to donate and on the broader issues can be found at http://www.educationnb.org/.
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For more information, please contact Tim Jackson: tjackson@nb.sympatico.ca(506) 674-1597 or (506) 476-0951
That's the rub -- data
Documents Government sought out the findings to support its early French immersion conclusion, citizen group says
MEGAN O’TOOLE
TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL
Published Tuesday June 3rd, 2008
FREDERICTON - Documents uncovered through a Right to Information request suggest the Liberal government may have come to a predetermined conclusion on the fate of early immersion, then looked for data to back it up, according to a group fighting the reforms to French immersion.
Portions of the documents, including some names, were blacked out. But at the core of the debate is an e-mail exchange between an unknown individual and James Croll, who co-authored the report on French second-language programming that the province used as a foundation for its decision to axe early immersion.
An e-mail sent by Croll on Nov. 8, 2007, at 6:54 a.m. reads: "I'm putting together the portion of the report dealing with 'streaming.' So far, we have a bunch of anecdotal material which Faith has dug out of our interviews but, that is good as colour following the presentation of data.
... and that's the rub - data." The e-mail goes on to discuss specific pieces of data the report's authors needed to "make the case for the streaming that's been going on," including the number of identified special needs children in Grades 1 and 2, and the number OF special needs children in French immersion in those same grades for the 2006-07 year.
"This seems to be the only route we can go to address: the 'streaming effect' and it's impact upon the choices of immersion, and the Grade 2 discrepancies in literacy assessment - so it'll kill two birds with one stone,"the e-mail reads.
"This is an area that's very critical to the status of our report as the issue has been raised by senior personnel."
According to Craig Leonard, a local executive member of Citizens for Educational Choice, the e-mail exchange indicates a"backwards"process.
"The main concern is that we're seeing a lot of data being requested that seems to be in an attempt to support conclusions that are already reached,"Leonard said.
Citizens for Educational Choice is a grassroots group formed in response to Education Minister Kelly Lamrock's French second-language reforms. The group has made a request for a judicial review of Lamrock's plan, which will be heard before a court in Saint John on Wednesday.
But education department officials deny there is anything untoward about the exchange.
"I think the e-mails need to be viewed in a greater context," spokesperson Jordan O'Brien said. "This is one e-mail that's being cherry-picked out because there's something without context that may be considered a red herring." Leonard also raised concerns about another e-mail in the same chain, sent by Croll on Nov. 8, 2007, at 11:41 a.m. An excerpt reads: "When examining the early immersion versus the English or core program literacy results, there is barely a significant difference which is nothing short of remarkable (in terms of why one would logically expect).
"The issue seems to be that we're definitely measuring two very different populations and, outside of the fact that the French immersion assessment is at a substantially lower level of literacy, there has to be a much more heterogeneous population in the 'English' program." This indicates a jump to conclusions by the report's co-author, Leonard said, noting there are other potential reasons for the closely aligned literacy scores that seem to have been ignored.
"Perhaps with the vast majority of exceptional students, help and support in the core program is much better and that's the cause of the (higher than expected) scores in core," he said, noting similar resources could have been put in place to help exceptional students in early immersion.
But according to O'Brien, the difference clearly indicates "the immersion class is not doing as good of a job of teaching literacy as the core program."
Bloggers' notes: The details of these communications suggest that the result was pre-determined and that this report was not an objective review of the French Second Language program but a directed execution of Early French Immersion.
Mr. O'Brien's comments at the end of the article clearly underlie the circularity of their argument. He assumes that EFI students should be doing better, then when we see that they are not, he claims that clearly EFI is failing.
Their entire argument rests on an assumption that they have no data to support, yet they constuct an argument to explain that too.
This is light years away from any accepted approach to scientific research. Even Minister Lamrock has admitted that EFI does work for those enrolled, yet here we see a member of his staff again trying to claim that it is a bad program.
For those interested, to be truly objective science one follows what is called the "Scientific Method". From Wikipedia --
"Among other facets shared by the various fields of inquiry is the conviction that the process must be objective to reduce a biased interpretation of the results. Another basic expectation is to document, archive and share all data and methodology so they are available for careful scrutiny by other scientists, thereby allowing other researchers the opportunity to verify results by attempting to reproduce them. This practice, called full disclosure, also allows statistical measures of the reliability of these data to be established."
Clearly DOE needs to better understand these concepts.
More Great Letters
The Daily-Gleaner, June 3rd, 2008
Immersion has helped children to learn French
We have three kids in the early French immersion program at the present time, and we are very happy with their ability to converse in French and how they feel at ease with the language.
There are so many things in our education system which need reform, but cutting a program, with which most people who participate in are happy, does not seem to be a step forward.
I do not care if my kids ever write the Grade 12 French exam. All I care and know is that they have received a wonderful base in a second language during their elementary school years, which they will be able to build on in the future.
From my experience, EFI seems to get a lot less effective starting in middle school, as the children's priorities start to shift. I will be more than surprised if Education Minister Kelly Lamrock's so called "X factor" will have any impact at all and, as a parent, I'd rather rely on solid scheduled French instruction for my children to learn a second language than on occasional extra presentations and activities held in French.
However, what angers me most is that the government blames EFI for streaming and the high number of special needs children in the English classes. Let's not forget that we all were supposed to have a choice of which program to enrol our kids in. Sadly, this choice was denied by the Department of Education to children who experienced learning difficulties by not offering the appropriate support in the EFI program.
Let's fix that and finally give everyone a choice, instead of taking away choice from everyone.
Felix Schwarz, Fredericton
Ashamed of Liberal MLA over immersion decision
I need to express how deeply ashamed I am of my MLA.
I voted for my Liberal MLA in the last election and had every confidence that he was a smart man, a man with integrity and good judgment. His reputation was strong, and he promised to do good things for New Brunswick.
However, I now have reason to believe otherwise. As my MLA, he has told me, and has been clear with many others, that he does not agree with the Lamrock-Graham FSL program.
He understands that it is a policy that has no basis in evidence, and that the Croll-Lee report was bogus.
He agrees that it is a bad plan and will not help with literacy, numeracy or, dare I say, obesity.
And yet, he continues to publicly support it. This MLA has demonstrated that he cares more for party loyalty and politics than he cares about my children, or anyone's children.
And so, I am disillusioned and devastated, and ashamed of the man I voted for. It is time for all Liberal MLAs to do what is right and insist Premier Shawn Graham reverse this decision.
Carla Dunphy, Fredericton
Monday, June 2, 2008
Education minister must stop misleading the public
Daily Gleaner, Letter to the Editor, Published Monday June 2nd, 2008
The headline reads "There's more to immersion reform than cuts - Lamrock."
In this story, Education Minister Kelly Lamrock insinuated that people who are concerned about the changes to French second language education are overlooking the bilingual learning environment policy, what he termed his "hidden X factor."
Apparently this is a well-known policy that all New Brunswickers should know about.
From the article, we are to understand that anglophone teachers in the anglophone school system will be required to integrate "conversational French opportunities into school life." It also adds responsibility on anglophone "school principals to provide programming to introduce students to bilingual and French culture in New Brunswick."
Here is what the backgrounder on Improvements to FSL Programs says about FSL in elementary schools:
"A new policy on Bilingual Learning Environments will be developed which will require ... principals of elementary schools to provide co-curricular programming introducing students to the bilingual and French culture in New Brunswick."
How are anglophone teachers in the anglophone elementary school system going to integrate "co-curricular programming introducing students to the bilingual and French culture in New Brunswick" into their classrooms, when no French is taught until Grade 5? And, even if they could, when would they have time?
They are now mandated to add the extra minutes of physical education, art and music to the curriculum? This doesn't even factor in the effect that the additional standardized tests are going to have on the students and the teachers.
This policy is not something those who are pro-EFI are overlooking; it doesn't even exist for the public to review.
It's time for Lamrock to stop confusing the public with statements that are inaccurate and misleading and rescind his changes to French second language education.
Jennifer Doucette, Fredericton