Parents of students in Calgary who ran into inconsistencies while writing their diploma exams using an online system are raising alarms.
On Wednesday, the English Language Arts (ELA) 30-1 Part A exams had a notable irregularity in the questions.
“The questions in the printed booklet along with the audio file were different than the questions/audio provided within the digital platform,” the Calgary Board of Education said in a letter that was sent out to parents Wednesday afternoon.
“As students were encouraged to use both platforms, one for planning and the other for writing, this led to some initial confusion, which may have resulted in a less than ideal writing environment for students.”
The CBE said they received confirmation from Alberta Education that students were to use the prompts in the digital platform, and that the ministry “made every effort to mitigate any impact.”
Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides said he was aware of the discrepancy between the digital and paper versions of the ELA diploma exams.
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“I’ve asked department staff to explore what went wrong and we will work to ensure digital assessments work consistently,” Nicolaides said in a statement.
But one parent, whose identity Global News has agreed to keep anonymous because they are also a teacher, said that the dissimilarities weren’t limited to the essay question.
The parent said some students were able to access spell check, dictionary and thesaurus features, while others couldn’t. Some students faced delays of more than half an hour to log onto the exam system.
The parent/teacher said Wednesday was the first time some schools had used the online system. And having two different exam essay questions could result increased challenges in marking the exams.
“This is not a small mistake, this is a major error made by not proof-reading and double-checking as we teach our own students to do with all assignments and tests,” the parent said.
Jason Schilling, president of the Alberta Teachers Association, said he’s heard mixed reports of similar problems provincewide.
“I’ve heard across the province there were glitches, but I also heard in some areas of the province that it went smoothly,” he said.
But Schilling was very concerned that the glitchy exam experience wasn’t giving the students a “fighting chance” in writing an exam worth a third of their marks in amenable circumstances.
“If we’re going to have a system, it needs to be field tested. It needs to be put in a place where all the bugs are worked out, that there’s no glitches to it,” he said. “What I actually think the government should do is stop this implementation of this pilot.
“Figure it out, work out the glitches, and then let our students have a fighting chance when they sit down to write this test.
“At the end of the day, it’s not fair to that student who has no choice in the matter to write a test in a situation that might not be something that works for them.”
The CBE said it only oversees and administers the diploma exams on behalf of the province.
“Our district works collaboratively with the province to support the administration of provincial assessments,” CBE wrote to parents.
Nicolaides said all of the exams will be marked to the province’s established standards.
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