Teachers’ union says Ontario grading changes undermine professional judgment

Changes are coming to how high school students in Ontario will be graded at the end of their terms.

The Ministry of Education announced several changes Monday, including mandating that exams in core classes will be worth 25 per cent of the overall grades for students in grade 11 and 12.

The high school teachers’ union says this isn’t what’s best for students.

Monday’s announcement comes on the final week of school for many students in our region, but come next September, those exams will become mandatory, among other changes that were announced.

At an elementary school in Toronto Monday afternoon, a Grade 7 class showed the Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra how they use a new online learning tool called “Edwin.”

The online learning platform from textbook maker Nelson Education will be rolled out across the province in September.

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“It allows parents and students to also sign in, it allows them to see the lesson plan,” said Calandra. “A parent can also see how their child is doing compared to the rest of the class, with no names of course.”

The Ontario government is investing $60 million in the new tool for Grades 1 through 12, but Ontario’s Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) — their trade union — says the province shouldn’t be investing in digital.

“We always welcome investment, that’s true, but I think putting that money into digital resources is a questionable investment,” said OSSTF Vice President Colin Matthew.
The rollout of the new online platform is just one of several changes to education announced Monday.

In a press release, the government also laid out a new way that high schoolers will be graded, adding mandatory written exams for almost all courses.

For Grades beyond 9 and 10, all English, math, geography, history and science courses will culminate with a written exam worth 20 per cent of their grade.

Courses like arts, computer science, gym and French will have an exam worth 10 per cent and a final assignment worth another 10 per cent.

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Exams will also be mandated for Grades 11 and 12, weighted at 25 per cent for core subjects.

Not to mention, the province has also made attendance worth part of a students’ final grade — 15 per cent for younger high schoolers, and 10 per cent for the higher Grades.

The ministry wrote in a release that the change, “will bring greater consistency to grading and provide clearer guidelines for calculating final marks across subjects and grades.”

“Taking a standardized approach to final exams for all levels and all Grades doesn’t really make a lot of sense to me,” said Matthew. “There are some students who are heading to university where high-stakes exams are a great skill for them to practice, but there’s lot of other students on different pathways where high-stakes exams really aren’t going to be a part of their lives.”

The OSSTF also said the decision takes another stab at teachers’ professional judgement and autonomy, and calls it a distraction from the real issues in the education system.

The province is moving ahead with the changes for the upcoming school year.

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