Calgary Classrooms Feel the Pinch: UCP Curriculum Gets Failing Grades from Educators and Students Alike

By The Numbers: The Curriculum Conundrum

Calgarian parents might be feeling a familiar ache in their wallets, but for their kids, the sting is in their report cards. The United Conservative Party's (UCP) curriculum rollout, which began after they halted nearly a decade of previous development in 2019, has been a bumpy ride, to say the least. The proof? Nearly half of Alberta's Grade 6 students – a staggering 47% – failed the province-wide math test in 2024. That's a sharp drop from 72% achieving an "acceptable" score just five years prior, before the new curriculum hit our schools.

This isn't just a recent hiccup. Back in March 2021, when the UCP's draft K-6 curriculum first landed, it was met with a chorus of disapproval. A survey by the Alberta Teachers' Association (ATA) found that a whopping 91% of 3,500 surveyed teachers and school staff were unhappy. Despite these alarm bells ringing across the province, the UCP pushed ahead, making K-3 English Language Arts and Literature, Mathematics, and K-6 Physical Education and Wellness mandatory by September 2022.

The Opposition: A Unified Front of Concern

So, what was the big deal? According to Jason Schilling, President of the Alberta Teachers' Association, "This curriculum is not age or grade appropriate, there's several problems with the content, and it doesn't push students into deeper-level thinking or higher-level thinking or engage them with their learning." Education experts and teachers echoed these sentiments, highlighting that the curriculum was developmentally inappropriate for young students, stifled critical thinking, and reduced Indigenous content to tokenism, even removing references to residential schools and equity.

A significant point of contention for many Calgarian educators was their exclusion from the process. Teachers were largely left out of the UCP's initial Curriculum Advisory Panel and subsequent drafting groups, a stark departure from how curriculum has traditionally been developed here in Alberta. This widespread dissatisfaction wasn't just talk; numerous school boards, particularly around Edmonton, flat-out refused to pilot the initial draft. Compounding the concerns were accusations of plagiarism surrounding the draft curriculum, adding another layer of controversy to an already fraught process. Even a new draft of the K-6 social studies curriculum, released in March 2024, drew fresh criticism, with educators stating their input was "largely ignored." The final K-6 social studies curriculum was eventually released in May 2025.

Who Pays? Calgarian Families on the Front Lines

For Calgarian families, this isn't just political theatre; it's playing out in their living rooms. The shift from an inquiry-based learning approach, which encouraged students to ask questions and explore, to one emphasizing a "common cache of knowledge" taught chronologically, means a fundamental change in how their children are learning. For parents navigating homework help in their Ward 11 homes, or teachers planning lessons along Deerfoot Trail, this curriculum means adjusting to a system that many feel is setting students back.

The concrete impact of nearly half of Grade 6 students struggling with math isn't just a statistic; it's future challenges for our city's workforce, for our community's problem-solvers. It’s about the foundational skills our kids need to thrive in a rapidly changing world, and the concern is that this curriculum, despite its intentions, isn’t delivering.

The Verdict: An Ongoing Conversation

While parts of the new curriculum are now firmly embedded in our schools, the debate and the data continue to tell a story of significant unease. The initial "garbage curriculum" as termed by some, has indeed "happened." The question remains: at what cost to a generation of Calgary students? As the dust settles on curriculum implementation, the true measure of its success will ultimately be seen in the educational outcomes of the children passing through Calgary's schools, from the youngest learners to those gearing up for the future.