A comparative study of collegiate and Department of Education marks in Manitoba

Abstract

Marks play such a significant role in our educational system that they are a never-ending field for investigation. From the time a child enters school, marks are with him until he graduates. They not only indicate present progress in school work but continue to affect a child, directly or indirectly, all his life, and have, consequently, a powerful social influence. Some system of measurement is essential in order to present, in a manner that indicates as exactly as possible, pupil progress. Learning involves psychological processes and it is impossible for any system to measure the working of the human mind with the accuracy that can be secured in measuring human efficiency in limited operations such as cutting down a tree, or measuring a quart of milk. As the secondary school becomes more complicated and demanding, the problem of establishing a highly valid system of measurement acquires even increasing importance. Such a system must not only be valid among educational bodies, but must also be acceptable in the economic world into which every child is eventually absorbed. The present marking system, is the answer presented by our educators to the need for measurement, and, accordingly, is subjected to constant study with a view to rendering it more adequate...