The ‘A+’ to ‘F’ system has seen its last school year in BC for elementary and middle schools starting next school year.
In 2016, the province began a process to modernize their curriculums and their latest move is to make all remaining schools in BC switch from the letter grade system to something more conducive for students’ learning.
Beginning in the 2023-24 school year, a ‘proficiency scale’ will be utilized for all students Kindergarten to Grade 9, while the letter grade system and percentage grades will continue for those in Grade 10, 11 and 12.
“Since 2016, school districts representing approximately half of BC students have tested and adopted new reporting on student progress to make sure we are evaluating the skills that students need for the future,” said Rachna Singh, Minister of Education and Child Care.
“Report cards will continue to update parents and caregivers about students’ progress, while also effectively preparing students to succeed, whether in post-secondary education or in the future careers of their choice.”
Some BC parents say the new system helps them better understand their child’s learning needs and provides them with a bigger picture look at their progress in the schooling system.
Letter and percentage grades will endure for high school students because it helps them with college and university applications, according to the province.
The provincial proficiency scale, which students in kindergarten to Grade 9 will use, conveys their academic journey in terms like, emerging, developing, proficient and extending.
In addition to this, all students from kindergarten to Grade 12 will have the opportunity to be involved in their own academic reporting with self-reflection practices and goal setting exercises.
“As a researcher with a focus on the effects of assessment practices on student learning and student-teacher learning relationships, I am impressed by many aspects of the changes to BC’s K-12 student reporting policy,” said Paige Fisher, Education Researcher at Vancouver Island University.
“The shift away from letter grades to proficiency scales in K-9 reporting reflects current research around learning as a process, not a product. The emphasis on goal-setting and self-assessment of holistic competencies, such as communication, critical and creative thinking, and personal and social identity, is in alignment with the transformation of BC’s curriculum, which is leading the way internationally.”
Fisher says the new system has the potential to deepen and better support students’ understanding of their own learning, both inside and out of school.
