Grade 12 students in Alberta are required to write a provincial diploma examination at the end of many of their courses. The result of this one-day exam is weighted equally to the work done in the rest of the course toward their final mark.
Pencil-and-paper tests do not evaluate higher-order thinking skills and are unable to accurately reflect the depth and scope of the entire curriculum. This is most evident in the current English and mathematics curricula, which require students to develop skills for open-ended problem solving, application of technology, creative presentation and effective communication. Attempting to summarize an entire course in a three-hour examination is unfair to students.
More than one-tenth of instructional days are used for writing diploma exams
Teachers are frustrated by the increasing erosion of classroom instructional time brought about by the expansion and restructuring of the provincial diploma examination program, and by the negative impact on students requiring accommodations for writing. Furthermore, restricting teacher access to the examinations after they have been administered limits teachers' roles in interpreting curriculum standards, reflecting on their practice and meeting student learning needs, and simultaneously undermines the credibility of the exams.
Changes are needed
Removing restricted access to the exams after administration, adjusting the weighting of the examinations on the final course mark and ensuring that open-ended written response components make up a significant portion of the exam will go a long way to improving the entire diploma examination program.
