A School District 43 teacher has been disciplined for giving his students copies of secure English 12 provincial exams to help them prepare for the test, including one that contained content that was part of the June 2018 exam they were taking.
According to a Discipline Outcome document published Tuesday by the Teacher Regulation Branch of the Ministry of Education, Albert Charles Baker, an English 12 teacher and department head who obtained the tests while working under contract as a marker for the provincial exams, became aware on the morning of the June 18, 2018 English 12 provincial exam that it included reading packages that he had previously given to his students.
Baker did not tell the school administration or anyone else of his breach of exam security nor did he tell anyone about his conduct when he was questioned by a teaching colleague and by two students about how his students had readings and questions used on the June 2018 English 12 provincial exam before the exam, according to the document.
When questioned by SD43 administration on July 3, 2018, Baker was “not honest about the extent to which he had distributed secure exam material to students, saying only that he had distributed three readings, when he knew he had distributed more content from secure exams.”
According to the agreed-upon statement of facts, Baker had distributed at least 15 readings and corresponding questions from secure exams, even though he knew that the Ministry of Education re-used readings and questions from the exams, that the material was confidential and not to be disclosed, and that it was a breach of the terms of his contract as a marker to keep the materials he received and distribute them for exam preparation.
“Further, Baker was aware that the Ministry of Education exam rules state that students 'must not be in possession of or have used any secure examination materials prior to the examination session’” and that students who cheat on an examination will receive a zero mark.
“By giving students material from the secure exam, Baker jeopardized the students’ final grades and academic integrity,” the disciplinary report states.
On Aug. 20, 2018, the district disciplined Baker by suspending him for 10 days without pay and requiring him to relinquish his position as the English department head at the school, which is not identified in the document.
On June 7, 2019, the commissioner for teacher regulation considered the matter and, in the consent agreement with Baker, the teacher admitted the conduct constituted professional misconduct and agreed to lose his teacher’s certificate for five days, two of which have already occurred and three more to occur on Dec. 4, 5 and 6, 2019.
Grade 12 provincial exams are used by post-secondary education institutions to determine eligibility and to assess final class marks, although they will be replaced in 2020/’21 with the Grade 12 Literacy Assessment.
