Back-to-school will feel a little different for Hal High students this week, with Trillium Lakelands District School Board’s (TLDSB) Wes Hahn noting major changes to the way kids will be evaluated and marked in the classroom.
With schools reopening this past Tuesday (Sept. 8), Hahn said attendance and in-class participation will contribute towards final grades for each subject – 15 per cent for youth in Grades 9-10, and 10 per cent for those in Grades 11-12.
Hahn said the change was legislated by the Ontario government via Bill 101, the Putting Student Achievement First Act, which passed in March. While direction has come from the province, it’s being left to local-level school boards to figure out how to onboard it.
The local education lead said excused absences will not count against a student’s mark, with parents able to keep their kids home if they’re sick, or for another explained reason, without punishment.
“We’re working out the details of what this all looks like. This marking system, the way of doing it, is going to be new. How teachers mark participation and look at participation [will change],” Hahn said. “Teachers want to get this right and we’ll work with them on it.”
Board trustee, Deb McInerney, asked at an Aug 25 schoolboard meeting if there would be special guidelines for students who learn differently.
“I’m going to ask… that we ensure we have something that recognizes not all students participate in the same way or to the same degree,” she said. “I was a kid who would have gotten 100 per cent participation all the time, but students who have anxiety, are more introverted, unsure of their language skills, or have been bullied or had mental health issues are going to be far less likely to open their mouths in a secondary school classroom.”
Hahn said teachers would use their judgement on a case-by-case basis.
“They know their kids and they’re not going to want to put them in a bad position,” he said.
