Day 162 (of 183) the end (or minimization) of provincial exams (w a tip of the hat to @rodroad219 )

Day 162 (of 183) the end (or minimization) of provincial exams

 

On the same day that my son got (officially) accepted into a project based program called inspirED http://www.sass.sd83.bc.ca/InspirEd we also learned that the provincial landscape also changed!

 

More details here: https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/assessment

 

And a “grad preview” here: https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/graduation-info#grad-table

 

Now, having never written a provincial exam (for the reason, see yesterdays blog) I’ve never been an advocate that the exams were “needed” – I did fine (some may disagree, but….) And with the movement supporting authentic learning (as can be seen in #geniushour and SOLEs – see links above) there has been an acknowledgement that the “trivial pursuit” format of exams may have seen their day  (loved this article featuring @rodroad219 http://www.cowichanvalleycitizen.com/news/377177361.html – seems he may have had a heads up 😉

 

 

There has been a lot of work, thinking, reflecting, debating, arguing, etc around this topic, but I am confident that this is going to greatly benefit so many learners.  Exams have a place in education – and for some subject areas may be a good tool to ‘test’ recall – but there are so many other ways to “assess and/or evaluate” actual Learning. To move away from the ‘one methodology tests all’ mindset is going to greatly benefit BC Eduction.

 

 

My oldest who scores very well on tests may still have that option – but may be able to push herself into showing her knowing in ways that actually push her to learn rather than regurgitate factoids – such as when she created a musical score for the english revolution….we tease that her feedback sounded very much like:

and I’m okay that she had to write a couple of exams in her grade 10 year – she’s good at remembering stuff and repeating “what the teacher wants” (her words).

 

 

 

My son is not so good with “pencil & paper tasks” (from worksheets to exams) and this helps support his need to show his learning in non-traditional ways – such as his application to the inspirED program that included a minecraft created “model of an ideal learning space” – including therapy dog!)

 

My youngest girl fits a variety of learning styles, but gets to benefit from the changes that her older siblings have helped unfold.

 

 

Today has been a long time coming with a LOT of people involved in the process. There is still a lot of work and thinking to do, but I am feeling validated in a lot of my own thinking/writing/reflecting that we are heading in a very positive direction! Looking forward to what’s next (for BC – that’s the “report order”)