In a recent press teleconference the provincial government was busy patting themselves on the back saying that they were correct and that the written portion of the diploma exams was not necessary for high school science and math courses. They said there were a few media articles at first but that the stats prove they were absolutely correct ... lol no surprise there. Alberta Education has become the master of manipulating statistics to say what they want and everybody knows it!
Every single high school teacher I have spoken to have said that the written portion of the exam was valuable and important. Personally, having taught high school Biology I can tell you that the written portion is very valuable. In fact I think they should have gone the other way and expanded the tests to include a practical experimental exam as well as a written and multiple choice.
Now the government has gone back on its intention to include written response exams in grade 3,6 and 9. One can't help but wonder what their reasoning was to add the written portion in the first place? Were they completely out to lunch then? Or are they completely out to lunch now?
"In a time of fiscal restraint, it is not appropriate to take millions of dollars away from schools to mark a written response which can be ably assessed by teachers in the classroom," MacDonald added.
According to that logic, why not eliminate the standardized exams all together and just have teacher scored grades. I could support that. At least it would be more honest and kids would be evaluated on a variety of skills not just multiple choice test taking skills.
The value of standardized exams is highly questionable but if we are going to insist that it must be done lets do it right. I feel sorry for students having 50% of their grade based on one multiple choice test.
What frustrates me is that nobody seems to care! There have been a few teachers in our school division with the courage to speak up at first but where are the rest of the voices. The school board said they wrote a letter at the time.
Where are the letters? Where are the protests? Where are the petitions? Where are the parents complaints? Why are the colleges and universities not demanding accountability? If I were a school board member interested in taking a stand for education, this is one I would embrace because it is what is in the best interest of our students. I would visit schools and talk to teachers and collect names on petitions. I would take a stand. It matters! Eduction matters!
Can we not offer a division standardized written exam?
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