Educators are reconsidering how they grade students after COVID-19 upended school life

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Some school boards, including the TDSB, have asked educators to consider alternative assessments rather than relying on exams

For high-school teacher Stacie Oliver, the past two years have given her a new perspective on how to best assess students. For a long time, she’d wrestled with the usefulness of assigning marks, researching its merits and drawbacks. Then, when her school board in London, Ont., cancelled end-of-term final exams during the pandemic, she took the plunge, dramatically changing how she measured achievement.

For the last two years, as waves of COVID-19 upended school life across the country, school boards were forced to change many of their evaluation practices – including finding alternatives to exams. Although some boards resumed those stress-inducing tests last year, many suggested teachers continue finding alternatives.

“Our message isn’t don’t use exams. Our message isn’t that exams are bad. Our message is we had the opportunity to use exams for many, many years, [and then] other tools the last two years. Let’s look at how all that benefitted students,” Mr. Gold said in a recent interview. “Let’s not return to old habits because they were a practice for many years. Let’s keep the enriched practices that we’ve had … and keep improving upon them.

Tests and exams, of course, do provide valuable feedback for the public education system, allowing educators and families to see if students have met curriculum expectations. They also serve a purpose in assessing learning gaps, Prof. Ellis said, and what additional resources are needed to help students, especially those who are struggling.

Ms. Smith hasn’t administered final exams for several years – even before COVID-19 hit. Instead, she focuses on final projects, essays and portfolios to evaluate her high-school students.

 

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Let me guess. Grades will be based on race with whites deducted letter grades and blacks raised letter grades. Equity rules.

s'F'lecce

It’s the educators job to follow the curriculum, not create it without approval, teachers really need a reality check between employees and employer’s. 🤦‍♂️

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