The “fixes” announced almost a year ago concerning the moderation of grades during secondary ministerial examinations are still pending. A student who had obtained a school mark of 73% in mathematics found himself in failure after his ministerial examination, even if it was only worth 20% of the final mark.
“Analytical work” is indeed underway at the ministry, but we will have to wait until next year before knowing the conclusions.
William Deslauriers, 16, was “shocked” when he learned a few days ago that he had not obtained the passing grade in fourth secondary mathematics.
After he failed the ministry test, his school mark was lowered by more than twenty percentage points, so that the final grade of 55% now appears on his ministry transcript.
“I find it a bit unfair, I worked hard all year to maintain a good average and there they make me sink,” he drops.
The young man is far from being the only one to find himself in this situation, since several similar testimonies are circulating on social networks.
“Moderate” results
William’s school mark was lowered under a statistical treatment carried out by the ministry which aims to “make the assessment fair for all pupils”. “School grades may represent different requirements and levels of difficulty from one teacher to another,” the ministry said.
This process aims to avoid “candy ratings” or overly harsh ratings.
If several young people in the same group obtain results on the ministerial examination that are much lower than the mark given by their teacher during the school year, the mark will be revised downwards. The reverse is also true.
The “moderation” of the notes, which has existed since 1974, is not unanimous, however, since it is questioned by experts.
The former Minister of Education Jean-François Roberge had also promised “corrections” last summer after The newspaper reported the case of a student who had seen her math mark go from 72% to 43% because of this statistical treatment.
The minister had promised in the short term to “correct the situations that need to be corrected”.
However, nothing changed for the student in question, who had to resume his Secondary IV mathematics course the following year.
Not until next year
At the Ministry of Education, it is indicated that “in-depth analysis work” concerning the moderation of grades began in February 2023, six months after ex-Minister Roberge promised corrective measures.
This work “will be spread over more than a year”, since the results of several previous years must be taken into account, indicates its spokesperson, Esther Chouinard.
William’s father, Claude Deslauriers, for his part, believes that the moderate rating is “excessive and inconsistent”.
“Why make people believe that the ministry’s note only counts for 20% [de la note finale] when she can make you fail your year after nebulous calculations? he wonders.
Micheline-Johanne Durand, who is a professor specializing in evaluation at the Faculty of Education at the University of Montreal, also questions this statistical treatment.
“The judgment of the teacher is not considered”, since the student must pass the exam to pass his year, she laments.
If the ministry refuses to change this statistical treatment, it should at least be more transparent about this process, says Ms.me Durand.