The Alberta Party believes that education is more

than grades and exams. Education means equipping

Albertans for the world ahead of them. As our society
shifts and adapts to new technologies our education
system must absorb these changes. A strong education
system produces successful and creative citizens who are
proactive in this ever-changing and multicultural society.
The Alberta Party envisions an education system in which
schools are adequately funded and are at the heart of
their community; local school boards are responsible for
decisions regarding their schools; spending habits are
transparent to the public; and teachers are trusted to
teach to the needs of the students, not to the provincial
exam. Alberta needs to become a leader in education
and learning. This means prioritizing the following skills:
Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
Creativity and Innovation
Social Responsibility
Cultural, Global and Environmental Awareness
Communication
Digital Literacy
Lifelong Learning
Self-Direction and Personal Management
Collaboration and Leadership
EDUCATION POLICY
Albertas public education system is publicly funded
and includes a range of school types such as public,
separate, francophone and charter schools. We
must strive to be a system that is inclusive, which
means ensuring that all students receive high
quality education regardless of ability, disability,
language, cultural background, gender or age.
It is with these principles in mind
that the Alberta Party envisions a
public education system in which:
All students feel accepted and are
challenged academically
Schools are at the heart of the community
and are a hub of community activity
Schools are funded by agreements
that are stable and predictable
Decisions about schools are made locally
The spending habits of schools, school
boards and the provincial government
can be easily accessed by the public
Feedback on student levels of
achievement for parents and
students is and timely
Assessments of literacy and numeracy are
conducted primarily for learning purposes
Support is provided in schools to help
all students reach their potential

Educators are encouraged to strive for
excellence and pursue research initiatives at
a local level that will their students
These hopes were expressed province-wide by Big
Listen participants, but they were accompanied by
a growing sense that our public education system
is moving in the wrong direction. Albertans are
concerned about a broad range of education issues,
such as: the over-reliance on standardized testing
to measure learning; students with special needs
struggling with inappropriate or inadequate resources;
growing class sizes; high dropout rates; and a program
of studies which fails to provide either a solid
grounding in curriculum or an inspiring overview of
the many educational outcomes available to students.
Big Listen participants were also feeling pressured
by increased school fees and transportation
costs. Many felt that large class sizes were not
allowing their children to get the extra support
they needed. Some even expressed anger at the
fact that public tax money was being used to fund
private schools that housed classes of fewer than
students, roughly half the size of the
average class. This left many with the impression
we are building a two-tier public school system.
OUR 4 PRIORITIES
The Alberta Party believes that an inclusive public
education system, supported by sustainable
and predictable funding, is the right of every
Albertan. In order to achieve this vision we will
prioritize four areas for action:
1. BUILDING COMMUNITY-
CENTERED SCHOOLS
The Alberta Party will revamp
current governance structures to
better utilize existing funds by:
Encouraging local governance stakeholders
to collaboratively make decisions and share
resources (municipalities, public boards,
separate boards, francophone boards,
private schools, community groups, etc.).
Decentralizing decision-making in
regards to the construction, operation and
disposition of school buildings by restoring
authority to locally elected boards.
Developing a community school
initiative to maximize wraparound
services that will all members
of the community. This will allow the
development of a planning process that is
designed to create an individualized plan
to meet the needs of children and their
families by utilizing their strengths.
Reviewing the level of funding
provided to private schools and
reducing grants to schools that are
not considered to be inclusive.
2. INCLUSIVITY AND SUPPORT
FOR ALL LEARNERS
The Alberta Party will invest in and
explore initiatives that support all
learners within an inclusive system by:
Providing additional supports to at-risk
learners and learners with unique needs.
Encouraging schools to make programming
decisions to ensure all students feel
accepted and are challenged to the best
of their abilities. For one student, a self-
contained classroom may be the most
appropriate option, while for another
student a regular classroom setting would
be most Adequate funds must
be able to support these decisions.
Researching and developing methods
to best use human resources (e.g. ,
teachers, education assistants, associate
teachers, learning coaches) to support
learners, while remaining cost
Within the public system, collaborating
with

parents

and

with designated

special-needs private schools,
to determine how their childrens and
students needs can best be supported.
Repealing the sections of Bill 44 that relate
to classroom instruction. These provisions
are not necessary and are not supportive
of an inclusive public education system.
Engaging students in the electoral
process through meaningful, ongoing
civic education, starting at a young
age and continuing throughout
their time in the school system.
3. ASSESSMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY
The Alberta Party will create a
strategy for assessing students. We
will encourage excellence in all
learning activities while decreasing
emphasis on standardized testing by:
Requiring standardized and appropriate
reporting of budgets for
schools, boards, the ministry or any
other organization that receives public
monies for educational activities.
Discontinuing the Provincial Achievement
Testing at the grade three and nine levels and

conducting sample testing at the grade six
level to provide feedback on the
of programming across the system.
Developing research-based assessment
tools for English Language Arts and
Mathematics in grades one to nine that will
assist in educational programming for all
education stakeholders across the province.
Decreasing the weighting of Diploma
Exams to 30% of the students mark.

We will also discontinue the reporting
of Diploma Exam results as part of the
students high school transcript.
Requiring all schools and boards to monitor

Professional Growth Plans for all personnel.

Requiring all jurisdictions to have
evaluation policies in place
for members, including
continuing contract
4. MEANINGFUL AND RELEVANT
LEARNING PROGRAMS
The Alberta Party will streamline
existing curriculum to encourage deeper
levels of engagement of the material, by:
Refocusing instruction on the goals
of curriculum rather than on covering
outcomes. The curriculum
is presently too broad to deal with
subject matter in depth. A system of
prioritization needs to be developed
to ensure the achievement of certain
outcomes, along with supplemental goals.
Changing the focus of instruction
to make it more personalized and
relevant to students lives.
Reinstating Alberta Initiative for School
Improvement (AISI) grants at the school
level only. Schools that want research
practices should do so without
it becoming a jurisdiction-wide, top-
down initiative. However, collaboration
between schools is encouraged if it
will be to the project.
Facilitating the exchange of research
initiatives (for example, AISI and Charter
School Initiatives) and best practices more
to all education stakeholders.
Currently, the Alberta Education website
makes it to navigate the AISI
section, thus preventing education
stakeholders from easily accessing
research done in other jurisdictions.
Photos included in this document are from:
http://photos.edmonton.ca and are used with permission, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial-
Share Alike 2.5 Canada License; Photo of the Royal Tyrell Museum is from http://viewcalgary.com
CONCLUSION
Alberla has lhe polenlial lo meel lhe needs oI ils
sludenls, leachers and cilizens. We are ready Ior a
more inclusive educalion syslem lhal has adequale
and suslainable Iunding in place. The Alberla Parly
inviles all Alberlans lo share in lhe crealion oI
new solulions lhal will enable us lo improve our
educalion syslem as we build our Iulure. We believe
lhal an innovalive, sludenl-cenlered and crealive
educalion syslem will produce innovalive and
crealive cilizens Ior lhe province and lhe world.
THANKS TO
The oo Big Lislen parlicipanls,
who provided direclion, ideas and
inspiralion Ior lhis documenl.
The numerous Alberlans who provided
opinions, Ieedback and examples
lhrough numerous media e.g. , Twiller,
Facebook) and inIormal chals
The Alberla Parly Educalion Policy
Team & Communicalions Volunleers
FEEDBACK
We are always looking Ior Ieedback on Alberla
Parly policy. II you have any commenls or
queslions, we would love lo receive lhem.
Feedback Ior lhe Educalion Policy can be given
on our websile www.alberlaparly.ca), our
Facebook page Iacebook.com/alberlaparly), or
by emailing us al: policy_alberlaparly.ca.