Does the high school diploma have the same value in Quebec and in English Canada? What about mandatory ministerial exams?
Posted at 6:30 a.m.
My two columns on the effect of standardized tests have generated a lot of reactions, particularly from teachers, school principals and university researchers.
In Quebec, I wrote, the tests of the Ministry of Education (MEQ) in 4e and in 5e secondary account for a large part of the final mark, whereas in several provinces, they are optional or non-existent, which could increase their graduation rate.
During the pandemic, the cancellation of these unique tests in Quebec left the sole responsibility for the final grade to teachers, and this cancellation seems to have had the effect of boosting success in certain centers and school boards, particularly English-speaking ones.
Readers’ opinions are divided. Some believe that all forms of uniform tests should be eliminated, even those at the end of secondary school which sanction studies. Others believe instead that they are essential.1
“The MEQ exams are not based on the needs and objectives of the students, but on statistics of comparison with other students. The best thing for the MEQ would be to leave the evaluation to the teachers without counting the MEQ exams in the final grade. In this way, it would allow enormous and fair progress in success,” writes me in particular André Lemieux, professor of school organization at UQAM.
The professor of education administration Guy Pelletier, from the University of Sherbrooke, does not share this opinion. “The abolition or absence of uniform tests is most often based on a generous conception of education seeking to postpone forms of student selection/guidance. However, if they do not appear during secondary studies, they will occur during college and university studies. »
He gives the example of Belgium, which does not have secondary school leaving exams. “It is during the first two years of university that we witness a real slaughter,” he explains.
According to him, despite their limitations, uniform examinations provide relevant information on the state of student learning, both for the Ministry and for schools and parents.
Manon Beausoleil was a teacher in Quebec for 35 years, in addition to participating in the writing of Ministry exams. “These tests are essential to properly assess the level of student learning. This standardization of the examination and the correction stimulates teachers and students to respect the requirements of the programs”, she argues.
Claude Beaulieu, ex-director of a high school in Quebec, believes that the problem with our education system lies in the pedagogical system. “This regime is too rigid and undermines creativity. It does not promote learning, but the obtaining of diploma units. This kind of system does not exist in Ontario, hence the better graduation rate,” he wrote to me.
Some readers explain the better grades of English-speaking students in Quebec not by the fact that teachers are less strict, but by the better approach of parents and the network.
“I work in education with Francophones, Anglophones and allophones. The increased success of Anglophones and many allophones is, in my opinion, essentially due to the support of parents and the importance they give to involvement and effort. This is reflected in the classroom as well as at home (studies and homework) and, consequently, in the results,” says Louise Primeau, advisor at the Saint-Jérôme Road Transport Training Center.
Natalie Dahlstedt, for her part, has been teaching “online” in secondary school for more than seven years, well before the pandemic. “Teachers in the English-speaking community received training to teach online as early as June 2020, well before teachers in the French-speaking community,” said Ms.me Dahlstedt, who works for the organization that offered these trainings (LEARN Québec).
“When you leave La Belle Province to see what is available in online education in our beautiful Canada, that’s when you realize that Quebec is far behind in terms of training in online, both among students and teachers,” she wrote to me.
Law 96 and works in English
That said, some are worried about the effects of the pandemic on the training of young people, including this teacher from an English-speaking CEGEP who asks to remain anonymous. “My students, who have graduated from high school since the start of the pandemic, tell me that to pass their French as a second language courses in high school, they only had to be present, implying that it doesn’t matter if they did the work or not, they passed! It increases the success rate quite quickly! “, she reveals.
“With the adoption of Bill 96, our DG is already looking for ways to lessen the impact of courses in French on students by discussing with the Ministry so that students can submit their work in English. Our graduation rate should not decrease nor should the averages drop! “, she adds.
Andrée-Anne Clermont, professor of French and literature in a large Montreal CEGEP, does not see how our system could be too demanding.
A large number of our students have very significant shortcomings in French and they struggle to achieve the objectives for obtaining their diploma. However, what we expect of them is not excessive. These language gaps have an impact in their other subjects.
Andrée-Anne Clermont, professor of French and literature
“I often even wonder how it is possible that they got a high school diploma. This winter, for example, I taught about a hundred students, many of whom did not have the minimum skills to succeed in college and who entered college only because of the lifting of ministerial tests in high school during the pandemic,” she wrote to me.
My opinion as a columnist? These debates on education are not sterile, whatever some may think, but quite healthy. They force us collectively to improve, as long as we can have conclusive data to judge the situation.
1. Reader testimonials have been condensed for brevity.