The provincial government has extended the deadline for new teachers to complete a math test that is required for certification until the end of the year.

The government said the move is in response to concerns over meeting the previous fall deadline, with an Ontario Teacher Candidates' Council (OTCC) board member arguing this is due to the test's "poor rollout."

The Ministry of Education confirmed that it had extended the deadline for the Math Proficiency Test (MPT) requirement from Aug. 31 to Dec. 31. This applies to teacher candidates applying for certification to the Ontario College of Teachers or those with a "condition to complete" the test. Not completing it by the deadline means their certificates would expire.

The provincial government filed a regulation in August 2019 that required those applying for their teaching licence on or after March 31, 2020 to pass a math test. So for example, those applying for their licence last spring, who had met all the other licensing requirements except for the math test, were given provisional certification. The government started rolling out the test on May 10, ascribing the delay to the pandemic, but teacher candidates have raised concerns about it including what they claim was insufficient notice and communication about test dates opening up.

The Ministry of Education issued a memo to deans of education faculties, the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT) and others last week notifying them of the change.

"As you know, the introduction of public health restrictions and the closure of testing centres to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in delayed implementation of the MPT, which is a requirement for certification by the OCT. We understand that this delay has resulted in concerns about meeting the August 31, 2021 deadline for some teacher candidates applying to the OCT for certification and the OCT members with a condition to complete the MPT," stated the memo, a copy of which was obtained by QP Briefing.

"To ease these concerns, the ministry intends to provide additional time for individuals who must pass the MPT to meet the certification requirement," the memo said. "This extension would provide more time for teacher candidates and existing teachers to take the test and would reduce barriers for new or existing teachers to begin or continue teaching in the fall."

The ministry said its plan would support those who need to write the test by "providing equitable access and multiple opportunities to complete the test successfully."

Teacher candidates who apply for a teaching licence starting on Jan. 1, 2022 will need to pass the math test before they receive their certification, unlike those graduating this year who can get conditional certification, according to the OCT.

Bella Lewkowicz, former vice-president of the Ontario Teacher Candidates' Council (OTCC) and currently a member of its board, said the extension is just "delaying the inevitable." The OTCC opposes the test requirement and has launched a legal challenge against it.

"It actually creates a ridiculous quagmire for boards of education and for schools moving forward, because fundamentally how can any school hire any teacher who graduated 2020 and beyond and who doesn’t have the math test beyond Dec. 31?" said Lewkowicz.

She said the education sector is hoping for a more normal fall, but claimed the testing requirement could be disruptive.

"We’re supposed to be giving them some kind of consistency and reliability in the classroom and that’s effectively impossible when a school board or a school can’t hire somebody permanently to be in the classroom," she said.

The Ontario Public School Boards Association (OPSBA) noted the delays in implementing the math test during the pandemic and said extending the deadline would help reduce barriers for new teachers.

"Some school boards may consider making hiring contingent upon passage of the Math Proficiency Test. We are hopeful that the current extension will provide sufficient time for teachers and teacher candidates to pass the test, and that over the coming months we will see a reduction in pandemic-related closures and delays."

Lewkowicz said she would have liked to see the government "grandfather in 2020 graduates" and essentially rid them of the requirement to take the math test for certification. This could also help with the teacher shortage, she argued.

"It’s also unfair to ask people who graduated in 2020 to wait yet another year before they qualify for permanent employment, I think that’s a tremendous injustice especially because those people have been working in the classroom throughout this entire pandemic," she said.

Lewkowicz graduated from a teaching program last year and has been working as a French teacher in Ottawa under a one-year long-term occasional teacher contract.

She took the math test on May 29 and got 94 per cent on it, saying she can now apply for a permanent teaching position at her board. But she attributes her success in booking and writing the test to the fact that she was working on the legal challenge and knew when test slots were opening up.

"I was one of the lucky ones. There are plenty of people whose first attempts aren’t even until August," she said, adding that she was booted out of the testing platform in the middle of the test and that her IT-skilled husband managed to get her back on.

"The rollout’s been poor," she argued, adding that she has received "hundreds" of emails from people reporting their experiences including accommodations not being met and technical challenges.

One of the concerns with the rollout that the OTCC previously raised was whether there would be enough test spots to accommodate all those who need to take it before Aug. 31.

The Ministry of Education said the test administrator would "absolutely" have been able to provide enough test spots before this original deadline, noting that close to 10,000 spots were made available before Aug. 31.

Lewkowicz also continued to question the test's merits.

"The test is by no means even remotely justifiable as a measure for evaluating how well a teacher’s going to perform in the classroom," Lewkowicz said.

Caitlin Clark, spokesperson for Education Minister Stephen Lecce, defended the government's decision to include the math test as part of the certification requirement for new teachers, tying it to low math scores among students.

“Under the former Liberal government, Grade 6 students failed to meet the provincial average. This is unacceptable. Math is a foundational skill, which is why we instituted a new $200 million plan to lift math scores for students and improved teacher training and standards — including an expectation that new educators meet a grade nine math standard," she wrote in an email, also noting other actions like destreaming the Grade 9 math course for this fall.

Provincial government extends deadline for math test requirement for new teachers

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