High school students across Ontario are campaigning for their school boards and the province for a “freeze” on grades for the rest of this Omicron interrupted semester after some boards said final marks would not drop further than where they were at the end of last year.
The students behind several petitions – who together collected more than 15,000 signatures in support of the call for a degree freeze – have formed a kind of unofficial network, sharing information on the plea for what they say is a fairer system would be responsible for the complexity of the COVID era classroom.
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“This constant transition back and forth between online to personal, online, with no idea of what’s going to happen next, has taken a huge toll,” said high school senior Kake Jin, one of the organizers of a petition directed by the Ottawa. , said. -Carleton District School Board.
“It’s just the general ominous atmosphere that puts a lot of stress on students.”
Ontario has moved several times between personal and distance education since the pandemic hit. Most recently, students began the winter term with distance education as COVID-19 cases skyrocketed, returning to physical classrooms this week.
Jin said she was struck by the number of empty desks when she returned to personal learning a few days ago.
She did not know if her missing classmates were in isolation after being exposed to COVID-19, or if they had come down with the virus, or if they had stayed home for fear.
But she knew it was not an ideal learning situation.
Students’ performance may falter as they try to study for exams while under pandemic-induced stress or miss classes due to isolation requirements, Jin said, so those on boards where grades will not drop further have an advantage.
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“It can not just be sprinkles on this and sprinkles there,” she said. “At the moment we have to make sure that everyone’s needs are met. And having inconsistencies and inequalities between different boards really does not solve the problem. ”
A spokeswoman for the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board said it had already canceled summary assignments and exams, which would typically make up 30 percent of a student’s final mark, so that “final marks would be based on 100 percent on term learning.”
“We acknowledge and appreciate the initiative of student leaders to compile a proposal regarding marks and advocate on behalf of fellow students. We hear the concerns they have raised and have reached out to OCDSB student trustees and other student leaders to discuss this issue, ”Darcy Knoll said in an email.
The Toronto District School Board said it will not deduct marks from high school students for assignments completed after December 17, 2021, but students can still use those assignments and tests to improve their grades.
The Peel District School Board, among those targeted by petitions, has announced that it will also prevent grades from dropping.
“We want to assure you that student marks will not decrease as a result of their participation in the semester 1 evaluation process. Points will either increase or remain the same as a result of the evaluation process, “the council wrote in a message to parents on Wednesday.
A spokesman for Education Minister Stephen Lecce said the province was allowing boards to be flexible.
“One area where we have heard the need for flexibility is the type of assessment that teachers can use to determine final grades. “In most cases, it can mean a comprehensive essay or report, as opposed to a single exam for 30 percent of the grade, which will enable students to demonstrate their learning in class,” Caitlin Clark said in a statement. email said.
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The Ministry of Education implemented a brand freezing point province-wide when the COVID-19 pandemic first closed schools in 2020.
Maryam ElSahhar, a Grade 11 student in Ottawa, said many of her peers are concerned that students in councils where grades cannot fall will have an advantage when it comes to applying for post-secondary education.
“Some people from those school boards might see an admission benefit,” she said.
Shaky performance during a pandemic, especially when there is a back-and-forth between in-class and online learning, does not just affect students on certain boards, she said.
“It’s a problem all over the province,” she said.
Todd Cunningham, a child psychologist and assistant professor at the University of Toronto’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, said ElSahhar is right.
“Every time we move from personal to online, or online back to personal, it takes about a week or so for both the students and the teachers to adjust,” he said.
“If most of their marks for a course come at the end of the term – which they often do in terms of final tests and projects – then those students will be disadvantaged, because there is a high probability that they will not be able to be to demonstrate their full learning ability or potential. ”
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