Alberta sets guidelines for students to learn at home while classes cancelled

All Alberta students will be expected to learn at home under new education guidelines announced Friday by the province.

Classes were cancelled March 15 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Government expects that every student, regardless of their geographic location or socioeconomic status, will continue to learn while in-school classes across the province are cancelled," the province said in a news release.

Students covered by the guidelines include those attending public, separate, francophone, charter and independent schools, and Indigenous students attending provincial schools.

All Grade 12 diploma exams have been cancelled. All Grade 6 and 9 provincial achievement tests are cancelled as well. Under special circumstances, students can request to write a diploma exam. Students wishing to do so should speak to their teacher and school administrator.

Children in kindergarten through Grade 6 will be assigned five hours of school studies each week. Junior high students will be assigned 10 hours of school work per week. High school students will be assigned an average of three hours of work per course per week.

The guidelines were developed with help from the Alberta School Boards Association, the College of Alberta School Superintendents, the Alberta Teachers' Association and the Association of Independent Schools and Colleges of Alberta to identify how to continue teacher-directed learning for students.

"Everyone has come together to chart a path forward as part of our COVID-19 response — teachers, support staff, superintendents, administrators, elected trustees, parents, education associations, the provincial government and many others," Education Minister Adriana Lagrange said.

'Challenging and unprecedented time'

"It is important that Albertans know that we are all working towards the same goal — to provide the best possible learning situation for our students during this very challenging and unprecedented time."

Jason Schilling, president of the Alberta Teachers' Association, said the plan "is a great start for providing guidance and consistency for school boards and teachers to make sure learning continues and stability is provided for students."

Deputy NDP leader Sarah Hoffman said she was glad to see the government issue the guidelines.

"The clarity around diploma exams being cancelled is smart," said Hoffman, the Opposition's education critic.

"I was trying to think about how kids would even write them physically — in the new normal — and how they'd be marked, so I think that is definitely a good positive move."

She said she had hoped to see information on mental health support for students and parents.

"This is the No. 1 thing that people are reaching out to me about," she said. "Many parents who are finding themselves as home educators, without education degrees, didn't sign up for this.

"They themselves are feeling a lot of anxiety and wanting to support their kids who are also feeling a lot of anxiety. So that's what I think the government really needs to turn its focus to."

Opportunities for every student

The government said students at all levels will be offered learning opportunities while they are out of school, whether online or through other means such as course packages and telephone check-ins.

Teachers will evaluate curricular outcomes that have not yet been covered, prioritize remaining outcomes based on what is manageable for students working from home, and plan specific tasks and projects for students.

Content delivery will look like this:

Kindergarten – Grade 3

• Focus on language/literacy and mathematics/numeracy outcomes of the provincial curriculum.
• Teachers will assign an average of five hours of work per student per week, and will be expected to work with their students and parents on the delivery of these materials.

Grades 4-6

• Focus on language/literacy and mathematics/numeracy outcomes, with the opportunity to incorporate science and social studies outcomes through cross-curricular learning.
• Teachers will assign an average of five hours of work per student per week, and will be expected to work with their students and parents on the delivery of these materials.

Grades 7-9

• Focus on core mathematics, language/literacy, science and social studies curriculum outcomes.
• Teachers will assign an average of 10 hours of work per student per week, and will be expected to work with their students and parents on the delivery of these materials.

Grades 10-12

• Focus on specified and core courses required for high school graduation requirements, including language (English, French and French language arts), social studies, mathematics, biology, chemistry and physics.
• Content from other courses will be delivered where possible, and accommodations for students unable to complete courses are in place.
• Teachers will assign an average of three hours of work per course per week, and will be expected to work with their students and parents on the delivery of these materials.

All students will receive final grades, the government said in the news release. All students will get report cards appropriate to their grade level.

Teachers will be responsible for assessing students' progress and assigning final grades.

"School authorities have committed to ensuring parents are consulted and kept informed of how assessment will be determined in this unique circumstance. All students who were on track to progress to the next grade will," the government said.

The news release said that where possible, schools will work with high school students to complete their courses to the best of their ability, providing a final mark and awarding credits.

If a student is unable to complete a course that would have allowed them to progress to the next grade, principals have the ability to award credits to ensure student progression.

Parents grade education plan

Alberta students have been home since at least Monday, and parents have been awaiting word of what to do about their education.

Lacey Untereiner's 13-year-old daughter Leyna has been in contact with her teachers this week proactively.

"I feel like this is actually going to be a better situation for my daughter, because it will allow her to work at home at her own pace," Untereiner said.

The Edmonton mother is impressed by Alberta Education's plan released on Friday to continue assigning school work to Alberta students.

"I think this learning plan is reasonable. I think that they were very conscientious of how much kids would self discipline as far as their school was concerned. Maybe this is a taste of things to come."

Greta Gerstner isn't as impressed with the plan.

The Edmonton mother of two children in grades five and seven, questions why the school year wasn't scrapped all together.

"With the amount of hours, I just didn't understand what the need was," said Gerstner

"And I just couldn't understand why they can't just let families cope and deal with the virus mentally the way they need." 

She worries about families who are dealing with layoffs and tough financial situations while helping to tutor their children.

"The expectation that parents are going to be able to work with kids on stuff that they themselves haven't taken in 25 years or they themselves have challenges is going to be pretty hard."

High school diplomas

Students on track to receive 100 or more credits will still be eligible to graduate and receive a high school diploma

Principals have the ability to award up to 15 credits to students in Grade 12 whose program has been negatively impacted by class cancellations, the government said. For any courses that are started, schools will complete them with the student to the best of their ability, provide a final mark and award credits.

For students who can't complete a course that would have helped them get a high school diploma, such as a work experience or a career and technology studies course, principals have the ability to award credits to ensure the student graduates.

Resources for parents

• LearnAlberta.ca: more than 4,000 digital resources aligned with Alberta's K-12 curriculum.

• My Child's Learning: A Parent Resource: provides parents with information specific to each grade level.