The R rating is “the fairest known measure”, decide three experts called upon to advise the Bureau de coopération interuniversitaire (BCI) on the criticisms issued earlier this week by actors in the college community.
Posted at 6:10 p.m.
“The views expressed publicly in recent days as to the unfairness of the R rating are unfounded and biased,” the experts conclude in an open letter released on Friday.
At the request of the BCI, they reviewed the recent criticisms made by the Fédération étudiante collégiale du Québec (FECQ) of the college performance rating.
Recall that the FECQ called for a “rigorous investigation” on the R rating, the reliability of which it doubted, in its opinion for a reform of university admissions. It was based in particular on simulations carried out by the National Federation of Teachers of Quebec (FNEEQ-CSN) in 2019, which had detected a variation in the R rating depending on the strength of the group.
However, these simulations “do not hold water”, argues one of the signatories of the letter, Richard Guay. “There are miscalculations, there are pieces, understandings of the R rating that are not there,” the consulting researcher told AFP. The Press.
” [Ces points de vue] unfortunately only fuel the inevitable rumors that accompany any evaluation measure, which undermine students’ confidence in the procedural fairness of university admission and which can lead them to choose programs or institutions that are based only on illusions,” the letter reads.
The calculation of the R rating has already been revised, recalls Mr. Guay. The most recent was in 2017. But the alleged biases still need to be demonstrated, he argues.
“We do not say that the R rating is perfect. And whenever people have succeeded in demonstrating that there were biases, they have always been taken into account,” he underlines.
The expert admits, however, that the pandemic has disrupted the grading of students and thus weakened the R rating, which the FECQ and the FNEEQ-CSN feared. However, in the middle of the registration period for the next autumn term, what recourse do universities have?
“Are we setting aside the R rating? What are we relying on? You have to take academic performance into account, but we know that grades are completely flawed for comparing students, ”insists Mr. Guay.
The FECQ maintains its position
In reaction to the letter, the FECQ maintained its position. “What we raised in the notice are simulations that cast doubt on the reliability of the R rating. We consider that this is something serious that needs to be looked into,” said retorted its president, Samuel Vaillancourt.
But not through the BCI. The FECQ is instead calling for an independent investigation.
For its part, the FNEEQ-CSN reiterated its confidence in the researchers who carried out these simulations. And if she called this week for a moratorium on the use of the new calculation of the R rating, she recalled that she did not want to scratch it completely.
“We repeat that it is a tool, but other factors must also be considered,” pointed out Yves de Repentigny, vice-president of the FNEEQ-CSN, responsible for the Cégep group.