AB scales back diploma exam weighting

Alberta has announced that it will reduce the weighting of mandatory grade 12 final exams in the province. As of September 1, the exams, known as diploma exams, will be worth 30% of a student's final mark rather than 50%. "A single exam mark, weighted at 50%, does not allow students who may have greater difficulty writing high-stakes exams or who are undergoing unique stresses on the day of the exam to fairly excel under the existing weighting regime," said AB Education Minister Gordon Dirks. The change had been requested by the Alberta School Boards Association (ASBA) last fall. ASBA President Helen Clease said, "now we're putting the focus on what I believe is the most important part of their learning. Not one test, one exam, one day." Edmonton Journal | Calgary Herald