Close small schools, consultant tells P.E.I.'s education minister

A consultant's report delivered to P.E.I.'s education minister earlier this year recommends closing "small and undersubscribed" schools as a way to devote more resources to improving student achievement.

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The report, authored by Michael Fullan and Mary Jean Gallagher, was delivered to Education Minister Doug Currie earlier this year.

• Read the full report

The report states the review was "a quick stock take" looking at ways to improve student achievement while the education system was in a state of upheaval, transitioning from the former English Language School Board to control under the department of education.

"P.E.I. has many small and undersubscribed schools that should be considered for amalgamation," the report concludes.

"Resources currently being spent on these buildings, and often very small classes as there are not enough students to fill them, could be used far more effectively to leverage better learning for all of the Island's youth."

Education Minister Doug Currie commissioned the report from Fullan, a noted author, speaker and consultant on education.

No direct link to school review: Currie

Currie said there's no direct link between the recommendation to close schools and the review of schools currently underway by the Public Schools Branch.

However he said he "endorses the vision of the report."

"As the Minister of Education my mandate is to look at learning all across the province, and not just certain areas of the province," Currie said. "It's important that I get the best value for every dollar we can to improve the quality of education here in the province."

Constant change a 'distraction'

The report is critical of the number of structural changes education has undergone under the current and previous P.E.I. governments, including moving the Department of Education to Summerside in 2010, and amalgamating and then dissolving the province's two English language school boards.

The report says while all the changes "may have been based upon good reasoning … the constant restructuring also has the impact of distracting staff all across the system away from a focus on student achievement. Structural changes per se do not lead to improvement."

The report notes improvements in some areas including teacher professional development and intermediate math scores, but also makes reference to "worrying trends in some areas of student achievement."

Some recommendations already acted on

"There is also a relatively large number of students from P.E.I. who begin their university careers and leave by the second year," the report goes on, saying this raises questions "about whether the expectations and standards of performance expected of the province's graduates are as strong as those in some other parts of our country."

Currie said some of the report's six recommendations have already been acted upon, including a recommendation for a pilot program to boost student achievement at five of the province's lowest achieving schools.

According to officials with the Department of Education, the report came with a price tag of approximately $9,000.

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