New draft curriculum announced for elementary students across Alberta

On Monday, Alberta Minister of Education, Adriana LaGrange announced a new draft curriculum for Kindergarten to Grade 6 students.

Pillars of the new draft include literacy, numeracy, citizenship, and practical skills.

“I believe this will position our children to enable their best success,” said Minister LaGrange.

“The four things are all equally important, but the foundational pillars are literacy and numeracy. Listening, speaking, and understanding numbers helps to build a foundation for subsequent years.”

She said the ministry is wanting to ensure they are teaching what students require, and when asked what was lacking from the previous curriculum, she said parents really wanted to see students learning essential skills and knowledge.

“This new draft curriculum is clear, concise, concrete and comprehensive. I am excited for both the teachers and their students, as it is a huge step forward towards evidence-based best practices in math education. This increased standard of excellence will give many parents great confidence that all our children will develop the mastery of fundamental knowledge, understanding, and skills in mathematics necessary to succeed in life,” said Nhung Tran-Davies, parent and math advocate.

In addition they have incorporated coding, public speaking, and what LaGrange calls common knowledge skills so students can become more engaged and involved citizens who are able to communicate at large with their communities in the future.

“Elementary education is absolutely critical to Alberta’s future, and utilizing the best research out there and evidence-based documents really helped inform the curriculum,” said LaGrange.

“I look forward to seeing it piloted in our schools in September.”

As the pilot phase of the curriculum unfolds in select schools, teachers and fellow Albertans will continue to have a say on the draft as it won’t be finalized until 2022. LaGrange ensures the review process will allow them to make any necessary changes based on the feedback they receive. The new curriculum will then be put in place during the 2022-23 school year.

For more information, you can find the entire 500 page draft curriculum online at alberta.ca/curriculum.