By Phil Manuel

In August 2002, Delta School District was awarded a three- year contract to administer Language Challenge Exams on behalf of 11 school districts in the Lower Mainland. This project is guided by a steering committee of representatives from the member districts, known as the Coast-Metro Challenge Consortium. In this short article I will attempt to clarify the purpose for these exams, what it takes to administer them, and who is eligible to take them.

What is the Purpose?

The purpose of Challenge is to permit students to obtain credit for a Grade 11 or 12 course when they have already acquired the appropriate learning elsewhere. According to Ministry of Education policies, all students are entitled to request an opportunity to challenge courses for credit. Students who request the opportunity to challenge a course must be able to give strong and compelling evidence that they will succeed in the challenge and that it is in their best interests.

Challenge Exams provide students with an opportunity to demonstrate that they have satisfied the learning outcomes of a course in the graduation program, and to enable them to earn credits without taking the course. Challenge Exams will be necessary and appropriate only under exceptional circumstances.

The process of Challenge is meant to be rigorous, maintaining the integrity of the curriculum and the standards of a quality education. It is intended for students of exceptional ability, or for those who have had exceptional opportunities for learning through some special circumstance.

Challenge is not a way for students to improve their course marks, nor a replacement for the valuable experience of learning in a classroom setting.

Eligibility

All students registered in a standard/independent or home school are eligible to write the Language Challenge Exams. Adults who are registered in a Continuing Education Department of a School District are also eligible to write the Challenge Exams. A person who has already taken the course that they want to Challenge, or someone who has taken the Challenge exam before, is no longer eligible to attempt the exam.

Exam Administration

Over two Saturdays in February, 2003, approximately 1550 students will come to a secondary school in Delta, BC to write Language Challenge Exams. By that time, approximately 35 teachers, 35 invigilators, 10 hall monitors, and other staff will have been hired and trained; exams will have been designed and printed; the listening component of the exam will have been recorded and enough copies of CDs burned; rooms booked; students notified regarding details; website updated; etc., etc. The Delta School District (on behalf of the Language Challenge Consortium) offers six languages for Language Challenge Exams: French 11/12, Japanese 11/12, German 11/12, Mandarin 11/12, Punjabi 11/12 and Spanish 11/12. Mandarin is by far the most popular language for Challenge. Because the numbers are so large, there is a huge administration machine that kicks in for those two days.

Students pay a fee of $125 for taking an exam. The majority of the students come from public secondary schools in the Lower Mainland. However, independent schools, as well as schools outside the II district consortium area, also take full advantage of the exams. This year we will have students from as far away as Vancouver Island and Kelowna coming to take the exams. After exam completion, the tests are marked and the marks are sent to the individual students as well as to their schools. The schools forward the marks to the Ministry of Education and the student receives full credit, including a percentage mark and a grade, for the course.

This has been an exciting undertaking for Delta Continuing Education. Brent Koot, Director of Continuing Education, has taken a very hands-on, supportive role, which has been invaluable. The number of details required to organize these exams has been astounding. We look forward to a very successful start to the Language Challenge Exams this February.

-Phil Manuel is Program Coordinator, Language Challenge Exams at Delta Continuing Education.