Review of fourth secondary: failure rate 4 times higher in math

News 2 February, 2018

File Photo, Simon Clark
The test departmental of mathematics had attracted criticism last year, its level of difficulty, having “destabilized” many teachers and students.

Daphnée Dion-Viens

Friday, February 2, 2018 00:00

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Friday, February 2, 2018 00:00

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The students were much more likely to fail examinations in mathematics in June 2017 than in the previous year, learned The Newspaper. For one of these tests, the failure rate would be even four times higher in the public network.

The ministry of Education has not yet announced the results of the students in the departmental reviews of June 2017, but the figures have been around for a good time in the school boards.

According to figures obtained by The Newspaper, the success rate of the test of mathematics, the sequence of the natural Sciences of fourth secondary is increased from 93.7 per cent to 71.1 per cent in a year in the public network. In other words, 6.3% of students have failed the exam in June 2016, compared to 28.9 % last year.

Success rates are also lower for the two other courses of math, titled Techno-Science and Culture, Society, and technology (see box).

No comments

The ministry of Education has refused to comment on these figures, since it is “operational data” which may be different from the “official statistics” that will eventually be made public, said.

In some school boards, the number of entries in the supplemental examinations of mathematics, the sequence of the natural Sciences has also soared last summer. In the region of Quebec, it went from 16 to 63 students to the Discoverers, while in the Browser, on the South Shore, the number of students enrolled has increased from 4 to 53, from 2016 to 2017.

A review destabilizing

This test ministerial had drawn criticism last year, its level of difficulty, having “destabilized” many teachers and students, according to the managers Group in the mathematics of secondary school (GRMS), which includes approximately 400 teachers.

The level of difficulty of the test had been judged to be so worrying that the GRMS had launched a survey among its members to collect their comments on this topic.

Its president, Guy Gervais, therefore, is not surprised by these results. He recalled that the duration of the test was particularly problematic. “Several of the students had not had time to complete the examination “, he stressed.

However, the latter is more surprised that there also seems to be a decrease in the rate of success in the two other sequences of mathematical. It is difficult to say whether this is a cohort of students that is more low or if the level of difficulty of the exams has also weighed in the balance.

“I would be more concerned if it was a downward trend observed for several years,” he says.

Not the fault of the students

Students who have failed in a greater proportion to the test departmental of mathematics are not lower than in previous years, says an expert.

Mélanie Tremblay, a professor in the didactics of mathematics at the University of Quebec at Rimouski (UQAR), analysis of the departmental exams for several years.

It is estimated that the level of complexity of the test in part explains the lower results observed in June 2017.

“Component teacher “

But according to Ms. Tremblay, another factor may also be involved : the ” component a teacher “.

Unlike previous years, the event of June 2017 included the resolution of a situation to guess who is in the program, but usually little taught in the schools, ” she said.

“Teachers don’t make a lot of situations to conjecture. We know that in past trials, he was not there, so it may be launched as a message to teachers that they no longer need to do this in class, because the department does not evaluate it more, ” explains the professor of the université du québec à rimouski.

In-depth analysis

In July, the ministry of Education indicated that a thorough analysis will be conducted to better understand the difficulties faced by some students.

Rate of success in the departmental exams of mathematics, fourth secondary

Mathematics | Sequence Culture, Society, and Technical