More Collingwood families are pushing back about the Simcoe County District School Board’s decision in 2022 to eliminate formal exam days from the school calendar.
During the Jan. 17 program standing committee of the Simcoe County District School Board, retired Collingwood Collegiate Institute teacher and parent Brian Feldman spoke to trustees and presented a petition signed by 1,300 people, asking the board to bring back formal exam days.
“The SCDSB needs to return to final assessment days that occur at the very end of the semester...as designated days, not embedded in regular school days,” said Feldman.
The petition has been up on Change.org for just more than one month.
“Stakeholders including parents, staff and most importantly students took the opportunity to not only sign, but also to provide feedback on their reasons,” he said.
At both the Simcoe County District School Board (SCDSB) and the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board (SMCDSB), secondary students are given various different forms of assessment depending on course material, which may include exams, portfolio submissions or essays.
Where the two boards differ as of the 2022/23 school year is the public board no longer plans for formal exam days through their school calendars, while the Catholic board still has formal exam/assessments built into their school calendars.
Instead, students within the public board are given final assessments (which could be an exam, essay or another form of assessment), and feedback days to go over the assessment outcomes. This year, those feedback days fell in the middle of December, a month before the end of the term.
Feldman pointed to colleges, universities and trades schools holding final exams. He also said he worried about the use of artificial intelligence technology, saying it would make the situation worse over time.
“Our graduates are at a distinct disadvantage when they are with graduates from every other school board in the province,” said Feldman.
Feldman concluded by asking to board to amend the school calendar for 2024 to bring back formal exam days built in at the end of semesters, followed by one feedback day.
Starting in 2010, the Ministry of Education changed the curriculum, called Growing Success, which changed the way school boards were able to evaluate students. Under that policy, school boards were empowered to make their own decisions on how best to evaluate student success, with the only stipulation from the province being that 70 per cent of evaluations come from coursework throughout the school year, while 30 per cent comes from a final evaluation at or near the end of the semester that could be an exam, but could also come in other forms such as essays, portfolios submissions or performance evaluations.
During conversation on the matter, New Tecumseth trustee Sarah Beitz said that she felt assessments happening mid-December didn’t meet that definition.
“I’ve expressed before my growing concern that we are not in compliance with the Growing Success document,” said Beitz. “I think that was highlighted this term having the cumulative assessments moved up to the middle of December.”
Beitz said she had done research into trades programs across the province, and noted that almost of them have mandatory exams during course time and certification exams that are regulated through legislation.
“I really think we are doing our students a disservice by not having a formal, structured exam,” she said. “I’m really concerned that this is affecting our students’ success long-term.”
“There are boards that have come up with a compromise, and I hope we could do something similar. More than 1,000 signatures is a lot of people,” said Beitz.
Orillia/Severn/Ramara trustee Jodi Lloyd announced she had done hours of research on the subject, and questioned whether a return to formal exam days is the right path for the board.
“There is very little research that supports the traditional exam as being beneficial to our students,” she said. “There is not one thing in any of the research I read, or any of the ministry documentation, that says it’s to prepare you for college or university exams. That is not the purpose of assessment.”
Lloyd said in her 18 years as a public school board trustee, she heard a lot of complaints about the old system prior to the switch.
“I read a lot of literature that says the system needs to change. It needs to modify. The biggest obstacles are resistance to change, particularly to educators,” said Lloyd. “I’m a firm believer that just because we’ve always done something one way, doesn’t always mean it was the right way, and it doesn’t mean it’s the only way.”
Collingwood/Wasaga Beach trustee Mike Foley asked if the board had reached out to parents, students or constituents directly about whether the change is working, noting he had received a lot of feedback himself over the past year.
“There are a lot of unhappy people. We are a public board. We need to work with our constituency,” said Foley.
The superintendent of student achievement, Dean Maltby, said the board always looks for feedback from stakeholders, saying he had met with principals, vice principals, and teachers on the matter. He added that the SCDSB student senate was also consulted on the change.
“We did hear from students, and the one thing they said they wanted was some structure to those culminating task days, and that’s what we’ve changed this year,” said Maltby.
Student trustee Ayesha Maryam spoke to the student perspective on the issue.
“Speaking with students who will be going into many different future pathways, a vast majority agree they believe our school board should enact a designated structure at the end of the semester,” said Maryam. “Exams do not need to be specifically written as mentioned, and there should be different forms of assessment.”
Student trustee Lucy Duncan pointed out there are two issues at hand: the first of formal exams versus culminating tasks/assessments, and the second of having a designated day or days to complete them that falls at the end of the semester.
“I don’t think these two things are mutually exclusive,” said Duncan. “For myself, if I’m sitting in a chemistry lecture trying to pay attention, and then I have to go and write a final the next period, it’s not cohesive for my learning.”
At the end of discussion, Beitz put forward a notice of motion to put out a survey to parents, guardians, students and staff within the board on the subject of the removal of formal exam days to gather feedback.
The motion will be considered in a month at a regular board meeting.
To access or sign the Change.org petition, click here.
