The English 30-1 Diploma Exam: Assessment practices and pedagogy
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Abstract
Across the province of Alberta, in the January 2010 sitting of the Government mandated English Language Arts 30-1 diploma exam, the average grade for this exam was 62%. Serious concerns erupted because of this drop in mark, concerns that led to my research study. The purpose of this research was to explore how senior high school English Language Arts 30-1 teachers taught and assessed their English Language Arts 30-1 course, and if the English Language Arts 30-1 final assessment of the Diploma Exam exerted pressures on their assessment practices and pedagogy. The question explored was: “How do English 30-1 diploma exams influence teacher assessment practices and pedagogy?” My study found that the English Language Arts 30-1 Diploma Exam influenced the way English Language Arts 30-1 teachers teach and similarly controlled the way teachers assess student work in this high-stakes course. This study recommends that the current weight of the diploma exam be reconsidered to benefit the grade 12 students in the province of Alberta.