Depending on whom you listen to, the reduction in the number of Grade 10 provincial exams is:
A. designed to disguise the disastrous impact of B.C.’s “new curriculum;”
B. further evidence that the B.C. Teachers’ Federation has all but taken over the B.C. Ministry of Education;
C. another step in the premier’s evil plan to wipe out public education in favour of independent schools;
D. more proof that a once-proud system is becoming a dumbed-down version of its former self.
Either all of the above or, much more likely, according to people involved with the public system, none of the above is true.
Introduced in 2006, Grade 10 provincial exams included English, Science and Social Studies 11.
Math 10 was offered as Apprenticeship and Workplace Mathematics 10 or Foundations of Mathematics and Pre-Calculus 10. Before the changes, Math 10 was externally marked electronically, as were English 10 and Science 10.
Now there will still be provincial assessments, but only for Core Math and Literacy.
Despite all that, Grade 10 exams still counted for only 20 per cent of a student’s final grade, and typically, student marks were better in the classroom portion than the exam portion of the assessment.
Teachers, who kept track of class and homework assignments, weekly tests and student participation, were found to be more reliable indicators of student performance than a one-shot provincial exam.
With a reduction in the number of Grade 10 exams, course requirements remain essentially the same, and students still need to take and pass courses in Language Arts (English or Communications) 10, 11 and 12, a Social Studies 10 and 11, a Math 10 and 11, and a Science 10 and 11 to graduate. That has not changed.
Students who failed the more academically oriented English 10 or Science 10 were always and still will be allowed to move onto the Grade 11 communications and science and technology alternatives, and graduate with Dogwood Diplomas.
That has not changed, either.
Grade 10 provincial exams always have been a relatively expensive and educationally non-productive procedure. Students sat for the exams and some time later received a result.
It was possible to challenge the result, which cost the student $50, refundable only if a re-mark produced a better result. It was, with a certain amount of bureaucratic difficulty, possible for a student to obtain his or her marked paper so that student and teacher could review the exam and identify where things went wrong.
So here’s the important thing to note:
The required provincial exams might be gone, but Grade 10 courses themselves have not changed.
Even the BCTF emphasizes that English 10 and Science 10 are still more difficult courses than the easiest of the choices at Grade 11 and 12, such as Communications 11 or 12.
Science 10 and, according to some teachers, Science 9 are more difficult than Science and Technology 11.
Those alternatives will still exist, but the academic integrity of B.C.’s public education system is not threatened by the loss of some provincial Grade 10 exams.
One highly regarded secondary teacher and administrator explained it this way: “The loss of provincial exams has created a fantastic opportunity for educators to embrace the new, transformed curriculum and provide learners opportunities to learn above and beyond rote memorization of facts and low-level, knowledge-based information that can be Googled in seconds.
“With the removal of this pressure of Grade 10 exams, teachers can provide more genuine, authentic, real-life learning experiences that will better engage their learners and allow deeper learning and develop the critical thinking and problem-solving skills required in the 21st century.”
To be fair, the Ministry of Education will need to take into account the apprehensions of some critics who express concern that the loss of provincial exams could create inconsistency of marking standards among Grade 10 classes across the province.
The discontinuance of most Grade 10 exams might require the reinstitution for public schools of a version of the secondary-school accreditation program, which included certain safeguards to ensure that classroom marks are reliable and comparable with generally accepted standards across the province.
Geoff Johnson is a retired superintendent of schools.
