The Ontario Divisional Court ordered the Ontario College of Teachers last week to “grant certification to teacher candidates who have not passed the Mathematics Proficiency Test,” citing “disparities in success rates of standardized testing based on race.”
The Mathematics Proficiency Test violates s. 15(1) of the Charter, is not justified under s. 1, and is unconstitutional
Noting that there is an “under-representation of racialized teachers in Ontario schools,” the judgment argued that “racialized students benefit from being taught by racialized teachers” and that “the deleterious effects of the MPT on racialized teacher candidates who have been disproportionately unsuccessful on the test outweigh its benefits.”
The court decided that there were viable alternatives to the Mathematics Proficiency Test which “appear to be less impairing and at least as effective,” including a requirement to have performed a “minimum number of hours of math instruction or a math course” for a Bachelor of Education degree.
