Teacher calls on school board to reinstate final assessment

Of 71 publicly funded school boards in Ontario, only the Simcoe County District School Board (SCDSB) does not schedule final assessment days for high school students at the end of each term. According to retired Collingwood Collegiate Institute teacherBrian Feldman, that is hurting local students. “Universities, colleges, trades and professional designations all rely on exams,” he told trustees at the Jan. 17 meeting of the board’s HR and Program Standing Committee. “Our 2023 graduates report that they found final exams in their post secondary studies very stressful and frustrating, and wish they had prior exam experience.”

“Our graduates are at a disadvantage when they are with graduates from every other board in the province who have had the experience of preparing for and writing exams,” he said.

During Covid, the board informed families that “culminating activities” such as tests, essays, performances and presentations would be scheduled during regular instructional days. Feldman says a test written during a regular class is nothing like a final exam. He suggests students would be better served by final assessments that are prioritized as formal events with one major task on exam day and no other classes or activities, such as sporting events.

Final assessments for the current session at SCDSB high schools were administered about one month prior to the end of the semester. Feldman says conducting testing that early doesn’t allow for a designated review period when new learning ceases, consolidation occurs and the sole focus is on final exam preparation.

“When higher state, cumulative assessment is completed prior to the end of the semester, students tend to disengage from learning. This is harmful when there are still weeks of instruction and important concepts remaining in the semester.”

Feldman feels so strongly about the issue, he says if he had a student in Grade 8, he would seriously consider enrolling them in Our Lady of the Bay, a Simcoe Muskoka Catholic Board school, rather than CCI.

Brandy Rafeek, trustee for Adjala-Tosorontio, Clearview, CFB Bordon and Essa, says the decision to move final assessments earlier in the semester was made to allow time for students to receive feedback on their exams or culminating tasks, and have a chance to improve.

“I believe that board staff are gathering feedback from school staff on current processes, and I look forward to hearing that feedback,” Rafeek told The Echo. “I think that whenever big changes are made, it is important to continue follow-up to see ifadjustments need to be made.”

To date, more than 1700 people have signed an online petition calling on the board to reinstate a dedicated assessment period. The petition can be found at www.change.org/p/reinstate-a-final-exam- period-in-scdsb-high-schools.

Feldman has asked the board to reinstate formal final assessment days beginning with the 2024-25 school year. He says it is too late to resubmit this year’s calendar to the Ministry of Education, but it could be revised to move assessment days to the end of the semester. His report was received for information.