Under Embargo

A scientific evaluation of Luxembourg's French literacy reform was completed in February. The National Union of Teachers (SNE) requested access to it on 3 June. The union was told the report was under embargo until July, because the results did not meet expectations. The Education Ministry denied in a parliamentary committee meeting on Tuesday that any embargo had been imposed. Patrick Remakel, president of the SNE, insists the term was explicitly used in correspondence received by a union member.[1]

"When a completed report is kept under embargo, people working in the field naturally get the impression that there is something to hide, and trust is lost", Remakel said. He also criticised the suggestion that scientific results might be assessed according to whether they met expectations. "The role of a scientific evaluation is not to legitimise a political reform. Its role is to evaluate it, and the outcome must remain open."[1]

Four schools to nationwide

The Alpha pilot project introduces the option of learning to read and write in French rather than German. It was tested in four pilot schools. The reform will begin to be introduced in pre-school education in September, before parents are eventually asked to choose between French and German literacy instruction for their children. Four schools to nationwide implementation, without waiting for the pupils in the pilot to finish primary school.[1]

The SNE argued that four pilot schools were not enough to justify nationwide implementation. The union wanted the reform expanded gradually to additional schools across the country's 15 education regions, particularly where demand and infrastructure already existed. It also wanted the government to wait until children in the pilot reached the end of primary school in cycle 4.2, so researchers could assess their entire trajectory, including whether they had repeated a year.[1]

No deterioration, but no improvement either

The LUCET evaluation, the only quantitative assessment based on standardised testing, found neither a deterioration nor an improvement among pupils in the Alpha reform. The ministry has argued that the evaluation is only one of several studies and that the sample of pupils is small. Remakel noted that the government is questioning the sample size now that the results are less favourable, despite relying on similarly small samples when earlier findings were more positive.[1]

The pattern is familiar. A reform is announced. A pilot is launched. The pilot is too small to be conclusive. The evaluation is completed. The evaluation is kept under embargo. The reform is rolled out nationwide. The evaluation is eventually released. It shows no improvement. The ministry says the sample was small. The union says the sample was always small. The reform proceeds anyway.[1]