ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the symbiotic fusion of the Ontario curriculum, the Tyler Rationale, and Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) standardized testing in Ontario, Canada. There is a trilateral symbiotic relationship between curriculum, the Tyler Rationale, and the implementation of EQAO standardized testing within schools today. This relationship is symbiotic because all three components need each other to survive and legitimize one another; the curriculum and the Tyler Rationale directly and indirectly facilitate the justification and the need for one another, which contributes to the sociocultural and political niche to legitimize the use of EQAO standardized testing for accountability purposes. According to Eizadirad et al., Despite the fact that many initiatives are being implemented to respond to students’ needs rather than to tests needs, the efficiency of the educational system including its plans, programs, resources and technical efforts are still indirectly evaluated predominantly through EQAO test results.
