While many may question the choices and time allotments of various high school academic components, it must be highlighted that to acquire the official secondary school leaving certificate, Quebec adolescents must successfully pass a battery of "uniform examinations" given in various stages during the last two years of high school. One of this group of required examinations is History: the course is officially called "History of Quebec and Canada" but often unofficially referred to by its number code as History 414. This common exam is initially written by all grade 10 students (approximately 15 - 16 years of age) at the same time on the same June day in all private and public French and English institutions in the province.
Contrary to Granatstein's (1999, 33 - 35) erroneous assertions, Quebec's senior-level compulsory history course is a required grade 10 offering and not a grade 12 course. As a matter of fact, Quebec has not had a grade 12 since the inauguration of the CEGEP (junior college) system thirty years ago. Furthermore, the compulsory introductory general history course is given in grade 8 and not in grade 10 as so authoritatively stated by Granatstein. In summary, the current official Quebec secondary program consists of two history courses - both are compulsory - and the latter must be successfully passed via a uniform examination for high school leaving certification.
Over the last several decades, while modifications have occurred in the design, development, and grading processes, the general notion of a set of compulsory June uniform examinations for academic achievement has held firm. At one time, for example, the June examinations accounted for the entire mark. That is, the final exam grade was the only mark that appeared on the transcript and it was the one which determined future career choices. More recently, however, the final grade on these compulsory uniform examinations has been evenly split in a fifty-fifty pattern between on-going school work determined through individual effort throughout the school year by each institution and the exam itself. Within the present structure, it is possible for a pupil, for example, to marginally fail the uniform exam and yet receive an overall passing grade due to more successful school work.
Formal examinations in Quebec are serious business! During the June 1999 experience (the last year for which complete statistics are available) 14 uniform examinations (7 in French and 7 in English) were taken by 157,718 students who wrote 362,527 separate examinations (Ministère du l'Éducation, 2000, page16).
To a cynical few, the placement of the uniform history examination at the end of grade 10 is most fortuitous. With a general province-wide initial failure rate of approximately 20%, it is indeed convenient that pupils have another year of schooling to prepare for a second attempt at this compulsory examination. While the overall province-wide average failure rate has hovered around the 20% range for the last several years, a somewhat more in-depth analysis illustrates some disturbing trends related to this history examination.:
· anglophone students do more poorly than their francophone peers by about 10%
· males generally do poorer than females
· inner-city high school students do markedly poorer than those residing in more rural areas
· students enrolled in private schools (male and female) achieve higher overall pass rates as well as higher overall exam percentages
The June 2000 41-page history exam was segmented into two compulsory sections: part A consisted of 22 multiple choice questions while part B contained eight more involved and complex questions often using maps, diagrams, and/or political cartoons. Pupils had two hours to complete this process. In passing, it is interesting to note that no actual writing is required on the part of the participants. Every question is provided with a series of replies which the students sequence rearrange and/or select.
Keeping in mind the space allocations of this column, the following question might serve as a model of the kind of simple and straight-forward question that confronted these grade 10 pupils:
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From the beginning of French colonization in America, the Catholic Church played an active role, particularly through its many efforts to convert the Amerindians. Gradually, the religious communities organized to meet the growing needs of the settlers. WHICH TWO OF THE FOLLOWING WERE SOCIAL ROLES PERFORMED BY RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES IN NEW FRANCE? 1. Financing voyages of exploration A) 1 and 2 |
Notwithstanding the current major reforms affecting the place, role, and purpose of history within the overall Quebec curriculum, there appears to be a strong desire almost bordering on the fanatical on the part of some interest groups within the educational power elite to maintain this uniform examination system. It will be interesting to watch the interplay over the next several months as those who wish for more varied and written assessment instruments tackle those who prefer the more restrictive measure of objective-type evaluation.
References:
Granatstein, J. L. 1999. Who Killed Canadian History? Toronto: HarperPerennial.
Ministère du l'Éducation. 2000. Results on the June 1999 Uniform Ministry Examinations by School Board and by Educational Institution for the Public and Private School Systems and Graduation Rates by School Board. Quebec: Ministère de l'Éducation.