The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about many changes in the school world. In 2020-2021, as our daily life continued to undergo many upheavals, the weighting of the stages had been revised to include only two stages, allowing more time for teaching.
Our hopes were high to keep this modification perceived in a very positive way on the ground. However, and with surprise, we learned of the return to three stages for the year 2022-2023. The Minister of Education at the time, Mr. Jean-François Roberge, claimed to have consulted various stakeholders around him before making this important decision. No one knows who was consulted and this announcement caused consternation in several schools.
Today, while we are in the process of correcting the last evaluations in anticipation of the first report card worth 20%, those who know the students by name are well aware of the hazards of this ministerial choice:
- We assess the students more in an attempt to have a representative picture for the parent and their child. The rhythm of the evaluation does not correspond to the rhythm of learning, in addition to contributing to increasing the student’s stress;
- Time spent evaluating in order to produce this report card takes away from quality teaching time that students could benefit from;
- “Summative” assessments take precedence over “formative” assessments. However, during the school year, the learning support function should take precedence over that of skills recognition. Moreover, these formative evaluations contribute to the improvement of these in the student: they are formative and allow us to give quality feedback;
- A grade this early is not a communication tool that identifies the student’s difficulties. In November, it is necessary to bet more on a meeting of parents which allows discussions centered on the progression and the solutions.
Finally, for those who believe that the number of communications between parents and teachers would be reduced by going back to two report cards, it is important to recall a few facts. First of all, the Basic school regulation requires a certain number of official communications. In the case of pupils in difficulty, they must be done at the rate of one per month. In addition, with the portals deployed in schools such as Mozaïk or digital portfolios, the results of the various student assessments are easily accessible. It is practically possible to speak of real-time monitoring.
We must put the assessment at the service of learning. To do this, the first step of the new Minister of Education should be to indicate that he will return to a school year on two stages in 2023-2024.
Everyone will benefit from making school-family communications more meaningful and allowing students to learn in a less stressful formative environment.
Myra Auvergnat Ringuette, teacher from the Quebec region
Mathieu Bernière, teacher from the Quebec region
Sylvain Bérubé, teacher from the Quebec region
Sylvain Dancause, teacher from the Quebec region
Marie-Hélène Demers, teacher in Chaudière-Appalaches
Sylvain Duclos, teacher in Chaudière-Appalaches
Mathieu Mercier, teacher in Bas-Saint-Laurent
Luc Papineau, teacher from Lanaudière
Véronique Payeur, teacher in Mauricie
Jonathan St-Pierre, teacher from Abitibi-Témiscamingue and more than 6,275 co-signing teachers.