Students are more worried now than ever before, and they have every right to be. The truth is frightening: the gap between provincial marks and class marks is widening. In fact, teacher reported grades are so inflated that it has forced UBC to actually change their admission policy to address the discrepancy between the two grades. UBC now maintains that if the difference between the school mark and exam mark is 20% or greater, they will use the exam mark exclusively.
This needs to be a real eye opener for teachers. If we, as teachers, do not want this gap to continue, we must provide our students with the proper formats for analysis. Instead of simply asking them to answer discussion questions, we must equip them with the tools for analysis. Most importantly, we must show them the difference between a 6/6, 5/6 and a 4/6 and teach them the specific skills that will enable them to move up in the marking scale.
Perhaps if we can pay more attention to teaching the students how to write well, instead of just simply assigning essays, there will be less fear and more confidence in our graduates.