NSTU will participate in working group on teacher effectiveness

HALIFAX, April 25, 2012 /CNW/ - The Nova Scotia Teachers Union will join other partners in education to examine the complex relationship among teachers' formal education, professional development, teaching experience and life-long learning.

This comes after an invitation yesterday from Nova Scotia's Minister of Education, Ramona Jennex.

"We have some of the most highly skilled teachers in the world," says NSTU president Alexis Allen. "This opportunity to get more recent data is welcome as we want to clear up any misinformation around teacher effectiveness."

Nova Scotia teachers' professional expertise is acknowledged around the world and they are recruited globally. This province's students are among the top in all international and national assessments in literacy, mathematics and science.

Allen is also eager to talk about teacher effectiveness in the wake of devastating cuts to education.

"We lost 300 teaching positions last year, and we are expecting to lose the same number this year. Class sizes are going up, and that means there are limited opportunities for teachers to be assigned to their area of expertise. We hope this working group will allow the Minister to see the problem more clearly," says Allen.

Mary Jane Webber, NSTU Public Relations Coordinator
Telephone: [phone], Cell: 902-497-0194, Email: [email protected]