Final examinations have been cancelled this year for all high school students in Simcoe County.
The Ministry of Education recently made changes that allow school boards to find alternative ways to assess student achievement at the end of the school year. As a result, both the Simcoe County District School Board (SCDSB) and the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board have called off final exams.
With some students learning from home and others learning in the classroom, “it’s hard to administer exams,” said SCDSB chair Jodi Lloyd, noting 18 per cent of the board’s students are learning from home.
“We have to adapt to the environment we’re in and to the realities,” she said.
During Wednesday’s program standing committee meeting, Barrie Trustee David O’Brien expressed concern about students missing out on the exam experience and the effect that might have on them in post-secondary school.
However, Lloyd noted colleges and universities are taking similar steps this year.
“Nobody is saying finals exams are gone for good,” she said. “This is just an adjustment for the school year in 2020-21, during the pandemic.”
Teachers will still assess student achievement, and that could happen in a variety of ways, including essays and other assignments.
That’s the case at the Catholic board, too.
“The way teachers will assess work will be different depending on the course curriculum,” said Pauline Stevenson, the board’s communications manager, adding a “course-culminating task” is one option. “The students will definitely still be assessed and evaluated.”
The cancellation of final exams doesn’t mean days off for students in the Catholic board. Exams were scheduled to take place Nov. 9, 10 and 11. Those will now be instructional days.
Like the Simcoe County District School Board, the Catholic board scrapped final exams because of the challenges posed by the different ways students are learning.
“It would be really difficult to administer exams in the way that we normally would,” Stevenson said.