Dehcho MLA Sheryl Yakeleya questions whether NWT students being advanced through grades without meeting expectations are getting the support they need before reaching high school.
Speaking in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, Yakeleya raised concerns about the practice of peer group placement – a system in which students who have not met the majority of grade-level expectations are moved to the next grade alongside their peers, with an education plan designed to address their learning gaps.
The practice applies from junior kindergarten to Grade 9. From Grade 10 onward, students must meet course outcomes to progress, meaning students who have been advanced without meeting earlier expectations can find themselves suddenly unable to keep up.
“Students who repeatedly feel unprepared may withdraw, experience frustration, or lose trust in their own abilities,” Yakeleya said.
“This loss of confidence can follow them into post-secondary education, where expectations are higher and greater independence is required.”
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
Peer group placement has been a recurring source of concern in the NWT.
A 2020 audit by the Office of the Auditor General described it as “social passing” and found the percentage of students repeating grades or not returning to school “increased dramatically” from Grade 10 onward, the year it stops being an option. An internal review published in the same week found Grade 10 had become a “bottleneck.”
The territorial government draws a distinction between peer group placement and social passing, saying the latter involves advancing students without appropriate supports and is not NWT policy.
The GNWT’s position is that peer group placement, by contrast, is backed by research showing most students do better staying with their age group, provided proper supports are in place.
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
Old directive needs update, says minister
On Tuesday, education minister Caitlin Cleveland told the legislature her department has introduced a standardized grade transition process across the territory to ensure teachers handle grade transitions consistently.
She also pointed to an ongoing review of the NWT’s inclusive schooling directive, a directive that she said is a decade old and no longer reflects the reality of students’ needs.
“Ultimately, where the rubber hits the road is those supports that our students need in the classroom to ensure that their individualized education plan can be followed,” Cleveland said.
In the previous Legislative Assembly, a change in regulation made it a requirement for parents to be involved in grade transition decisions. Cleveland said teachers and school-based support teams now meet with families to discuss the options and develop education plans together.
Yakeleya asked how the department is ensuring learning gaps do not follow students from grade to grade.
Cleveland said the standardized process and inclusive schooling review are designed to address exactly that, adding the decade-old directive needs updating to reflect how students’ needs have changed.
She said making sure the supports accompanying that directive “are properly funded is going to be key.”
