Teachers Involvement

Information for Markers/Teachers

Scoring and Marking of the Examinations

Scoring and marking of the examinations takes place shortly after each administration date.

All writing assignments and extended-response assignments are scored by teachers selected from among those who have been recommended as markers by their superintendents to the Learner Assessment.

In early September and again in March, Learner Assessment sends superintendents a letter requesting the names of recommended markers. Dates for scoring the examinations are announced in this letter.

Learner Assessment staff contacts recommended markers before each marking session to confirm their participation, as well as the dates and times for marking.

Qualifications

To qualify for recommendation by a superintendent, a teacher must have taught the diploma examination course for two or more years, be teaching the course in the current school year, hold an Alberta Permanent Professional Teaching Certificate and be employed by a school authority in Alberta.

Teachers who wish to be recommended as markers for the January or June diploma examinations should inform their principals. A teacher should clearly indicate to the principal which examination he or she wishes to mark.

Markers for the August and November examinations will be selected from the list submitted by superintendents for the previous June marking session; markers for the April examinations will be selected from the list for the previous January marking session.

Criteria for Selection

In most subjects, more teachers are recommended as markers by superintendents than are required by the Learner Assessment for any one marking session. The following criteria are used when markers are selected for a particular marking session:

  • experience as a marker (in some subjects, qualified first-time markers will be selected first; all selections will be done to balance numbers of new and experienced markers.)
  • regional representation
  • proportional representation by student population

Please note: teachers may mark only one subject in a marking session. No teacher may mark both a diploma examination and an achievement test in July.