The union representing public high school teachers in the London area say student accountability and evaluation methods need to change.
John Bernans is President of Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF) District 11.
He believes the Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) needs to get back into the corner of teachers, “There’s a few things the school board has done to sort of fail to support educators.”
Bernans told CTV News that changes made during the height of the COVID pandemic remain in place now and they are restricting the ability of teachers to do their job properly. That includes limits on a teacher’s ability to use their personal judgement on final assessments, “It used to be that teachers decided what the final assessment would look like. But since COVID, the board has put restrictions on what they can look like.”
He said that includes using exams, “In some classes exams are not permitted. In other classes, exams are restricted to a certain percentage, and they have to have a second final evaluation.”
Bernans noted that the ability to hold students accountable for late or incomplete assignments has also been limited.
He believes the changes don’t prepare students for life after school, “When they have a job, you know, there’s not this sense of, ‘Okay, you didn’t do that report you had to do. That’s okay.’ Whereas that’s the approach we seem to take in education in high school.”
The union has launched a campaign called ’Elevate Expectations, Empower Educators.’ Starting in mid-April teachers are being encouraged to wear buttons with that message.
The campaign will include a petition, along with a push to have people contact trustees.
The union also claims that, when inflation is factored in, per-pupil funding by the province is down $1,500. They contend that forces school boards to reduce in-class supports that contribute to student success.
Bernans said the goal is also to improve safety in schools, “OSSTF did a survey of its members. 31 per cent of the respondents to that survey said they had experienced violence at work. So, we know that there’s room for improvement, and we think that this will help.”
The union is requesting an opportunity to go before the Thames Valley District School Board at the end of May. They plan to use that appearance to request a change in student evaluation and accountability methods with the goal of improving outcomes and the environment in schools.
