5 Questions with Adrienne McEwen, Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation of Upper Canada, Teacher’s Bargaining Unit President

Adrienne McEwen is a dedicated educator and advocate for teachers’ rights. As the TBU President, she represents contract teachers and plays a crucial role in negotiating fair working conditions, advocating for teacher well-being, and ensuring quality education for students. Here is our short Q&A with her about the Authentic Student Learning Experience.

What should parents be concerned about regarding student success in UCDSB secondary schools?

Student success is not working for many kids. Kids are being rushed through credits that inherently will have little impact on them because they don’t have the ability to make connections using the tools the UCDSB is using. Our school board policies are hurting students and hurting education. Their focus on chasing graduation rates as the sole metric of success is causing them to graduate failing students with a wink and a nudge. Educators are being required to give out credits like candy and this isn’t fair to the kids who get the credits with little to no work and not fair to those kids who work endless hours and get the same grade.

What does this look like for my child? What kind of tools are being used?

One tool is called credit leaping, where kids complete a more senior level credit and then receive the junior level credit in the same subject – like a 2 for 1 special on credits. Another tool is called credit bundling, where kids who meet expectations in one course will be given credit for a similar course that has similar expectations – this could amount to multiple credits with little to no effort by the student.  The worst tool is perhaps the Authentic Student Learning Experience (ASLE) tool.

What is the Authentic Student Learning Experience and how does it affect my child?

Unique to the UCDSB, ASLE operates outside of Ministry of Education frameworks. Students who are at risk of not graduating meet with teachers, talk about their interests in and outside of school, and are oftentimes awarded credits based on those conversations. It is a quick way to get kids across the 90% graduation line and on paper, looks like UCDSB is graduating more kids than most boards in the province.

Why are we talking about this now?

This initiative has taken credit integrity out of the classroom for 2 years now and teachers are tired of being silent about it. There was a lot of media attention last year around this time about this, and we tried, through negotiations, to address this issue but to no avail. Now is the time for action. Our goals is to make all parents aware of the situation in UCDSB secondary schools and to hopefully press for change.

As a parent, what can I do about this?

• Contact your local school board trustee and demand transparency with the student success tools they are using. Demand evidence from the Ministry of Education that ASLE is a valid tool.
• Attend parent council meetings and discuss this matter with other parents at your child’s school.
• Contact your local MPP to demand answers – why are some kids advantaged over others? Why is UCDSB being allowed to graduate students who don’t have the skills and knowledge to be successful after high school?
• Contact Ontario’s Ombudsman to ask for an investigation to be launched into the Student Success initiatives at UCDSB.

Ultimately, the parents as taxpayers have the power to demand change and demand transparency.