Statement by Yves Durocher, OTF President
The Ontario Teachers’ Federation (OTF) is disappointed by the decision rendered on November 28, 2023, that upholds the requirement for beginning teachers to write an arbitrary Math Proficiency Test (MPT).
Teacher candidates at the faculties of education across this province do not need an added barrier to access teaching jobs. The MPT works counter to the Government’s own recent steps to shorten the time needed for entry into the profession. The MPT will only further delay certification and will make it harder for teacher candidates to begin their careers as soon as possible.
In 2019, OTF offered the Minister of Education a strong rationale for why the MPT should be abandoned, as outlined in OTF’s position paper, A Recipe for Failure: The Math Proficiency Test for Beginning Teachers. Similarly, other experts in education pleaded with the Minister to step back from requiring our newest teachers to write the MPT. Even a literature review by the Province’s own testing agency, the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO), revealed that there is no empirical evidence that such tests lead to improved pedagogy and student outcomes.