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Exam Central

Crunch time for provincial assessments
Academics formed a key focus this week as more than 240 students, 72 invigilators, and numerous IT staff were immersed in provincial numeracy, English, and French exams.
 
British Columbia is entering the last phase of the three-year transition to the Ministry of Education’s revised graduation program requirements. The Provincial Graduation Assessments measure the application of numeracy and literacy skills to realistic situations, requiring students to apply their knowledge and skills and to analyze, reason, and communicate effectively as they examine, interpret, and solve problems.
 
“These exams are a nice follow-up to last week’s Dean’s Dinner and Academic Colours presentations,” says Ms. Wendy Milne, Assistant Head – Academics. “Our students have been preparing for these exams for a long time, and this week will see their hard work put to the test.”
 
On Tuesday, Grade 11 students wrote the new provincial numeracy assessment for the first time. This assessment tests understanding of math in real-world applications, with questions such as: “Which representation of a family’s weekly water use best illustrates where and how water could be saved?” Grade 12 students wrote the new numeracy assessment this past June. Grade 10 students will write their exam this coming June, when all schools in the province need to have written the new numeracy exam.
 
This is the last year for the existing English 12 exam, which is moving into a literacy assessment in 2020. Thursday saw the AP English class write the English 12 provincial exam, and the rest of the Grade 12 class write a mock exam in preparation for the provincial exam in April. As the English 12 exam is currently worth 40% of their final English mark, the mock exams are an important way for students to practice writing exams and receiving evaluation under realistic conditions.
 
Friday afternoon, students in the Grade 12 Francais langue seconde program completed the written portion of their provincial assessment, having already completed the oral component of their French assessment. French Immersion students can graduate with both a British Columbia Certificate of Graduation (Dogwood Diploma) and a Diplome de fin d’etudes secondaires en Colombie-Britannique – the coveted Dual Dogwood diploma.
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