High school’s ‘ungrading’ misses mark, province orders return to midterm, final report-card percentages

The Manitoba government has ordered a high school that has been “ungrading” for the last five years to revive — at least partially — its zero-to-100 marking scale.

A new directive calls on the Louis Riel School Division to ensure all of its Grade 9-12 campuses include percentages on midterm and final report cards in 2025-2026.

At the same time, administrators are facing questions from within their division about the tangible results of Glenlawn Collegiate’s avant-garde practices.

“Me and my children, in our experience, we’re motivated by grades. They can be practical guideposts. They can motivate and incentivize and empower learners,” said Celia Valel, a mother of three children enrolled in a nearby feeder school.

Valel said she’s nervous about what her Grade 8 daughter’s experience will be like next year if she attends Glenlawn, and how it will prepare her for post-secondary education.

She cited the school’s unorthodox marking system and anecdotal comments from community members who are skeptical about its results.

Glenlawn all but erased number grades from Grades 9-12 courses in September 2023. Percentages were replaced with four terms — emerging, progressing, applying and mastering — throughout the semester.

Midterm updates have included only comments in recent years, although there are exceptions for final-year students who need them for university applications.

Principal Dionne Potapinski, a devotee of what she calls “progressive assessment,” and her teacher-colleagues struck a compromise to release percentages at the end of every course.

Students compile a portfolio of work and pitch what number they think best represents it. Their teacher has the ultimate authority over their final scores.

Given the high school has undergone a massive transformation, which began in earnest in 2017, families should be briefed on related data, such as how provincial exam results and student well-being indicators now compare to other campuses, Valel said.

The mother recently wrote to school administrators and elected officials to share her perspective and call for public consultation.

At about the same time — a mere coincidence, per Manitoba Education — deputy minister Brian O’Leary and superintendent Christian Michalik met to discuss report-card expectations.

“Please note that all Grade 9 to 12 report cards must include a percentage grade in all reporting periods, including midterm reports,” O’Leary wrote in a followup memo on April 14.

He noted that any deviations from provincial policy must be approved in writing by the Education Department.

Michalik shared the two-page letter with attendees at a school board meeting last week. The deputy minister’s request will be met, Michalik said.

“What we will do is find a way to respect and honour the directive… while continuing to do what we can to get the balance right at Glenlawn Collegiate and other schools,” he said, before praising staff at the high school for participating in ongoing and in-depth discussions about their practices and reviewing research on the subject.

Manitoba’s assessment policy stresses that professional judgment must be exercised when mulling observations, conversations with students and academic submissions to come up with a grade.

The subjectivity of grades is among the many reasons that Potapinski initiated an early outcome-based assessment pilot in Grade 9 math and science classrooms in 2017.

The high school principal has also been vocal about her research-backed concerns that numbers distract from authentic learning and negatively affect teenager well-being.

Potapinski has likened the 2020 bestseller Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead) to her educational bible.

She favours ongoing feedback and putting onus on students to take accountability for their education by self-reflecting on their specific knowledge gaps and taking action.

When reached for comment about the latest developments, Potapinski said she had yet to receive any personal correspondence from Manitoba Education or related complaints. She deferred comment to higher-ups.

Her superintendent said he was under the impression Glenlawn had, at least under the previous provincial government, a green light to withhold numbers from midterm reports.

He said he’s hopeful the door remains open for ongoing dialogue with the province, as well as members of the public who want to know more about Glenlawn and its results.

“The conversations occurring at Glenlawn Collegiate are conversations we have been having as a school system in LRSD, in Winnipeg, in Manitoba, across the country and the world for some time now,” Michalik said Monday.

Manitoba’s 2008 Communicating Student Learning guidelines discuss a shift from “using assessment to accumulate marks or compete with others” to leveraging it as a tool to facilitate deeper learning.

A provincial spokesperson said in a statement that Manitoba Education wanted to issue a reminder about report-card expectations. They said elected officials had not received any direct complaints about Glenlawn’s practices, but were aware about issues raised directly to LRSD.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca