It appears the new ‘quadmester’ system of timetabling for secondary school students may have more benefits than reducing student contact in the battle against COVID-19.
Preliminary data shows that the number of students passing their Grade 9 and 10 compulsory courses exceeds that of the five year average for St. Clair Catholic students, in nearly every compulsory course. In addition, the number of students earning a Level 3 or higher in compulsory courses also exceeds the five year average. The trend is evident in both the academic and applied programming pathways.
“This is obviously tremendous news and an unexpected windfall of the quadmester system,” says Deb Crawford, Director of Education. “Although it’s too early to draw any firm conclusions about future timetabling schedules, we are very pleased and encouraged by these results and will continue to monitor student success.”
Under the quadmester system, students remain in one cohort or class all day each day for one entire week. During the second week, they take a second subject with a second cohort of students. The system was designed to reduce contact among students and staff to help protect against the spread of COVID-19.
St. Clair Catholic’s preliminary review also shows that the Quadmester 1 data exceeds that of the most recent provincial data from the Ministry of Education, released in June 2019. Also of note, 97% of all Grade 9 students earned at least one credit in Quadmester 1 and 95% of all Grade 9s earned both credits in the first quadmester.
Student success in math and English are the two greatest predictors of graduation rates and are required to be reported to the Ministry of Education. The tables below summarize the results for Grade 9 and Grade 10 math and English in both the academic and applied pathways for Quadmester 1, as compared to the Board’s five year average.
St. Clair Catholic Compulsory Applied Course Board-Wide Data
| Course | % Students Currently Achieving Level 3/4 | % Students Achieving Level 3/4 5 Year Avg. | % Students Achieving Level 3/4 Prov. Avg. 2019 | % Students Currently Achieving a Passing Grade | % Students Achieving Passing Grade 5 Yr. Avg. |
| Gr. 9 Math Applied | 63 | 63 | 47 | 97 | 94 |
| Gr. 9 English Applied | 62 | 64 | 48 | 92 | 96 |
| Gr.10 Math Applied | 71 | 54 | 44 | 98 | 89 |
| Gr. 10 English Applied | 74 | 60 | 46 | 100 | 95 |
St. Clair Catholic Compulsory Academic Course Board-Wide Data
| Course | % Students Currently Achieving Level 3/4 | % Students Achieving Level 3/4 5 Year Avg. | % Students Achieving Level 3/4 Prov. Avg. 2019 | % Students Currently Achieving a Passing Grade | % Students Achieving Passing Grade 5 Yr. Avg. |
| Gr. 9 English Academic | 80 | 79 | 75 | 100 | 99 |
| Gr. 9 Math Academic | 78 | 70 | 75 | 100 | 98 |
| Gr. 10 English Academic | 88 | 84 | 75 | 99 | 99 |
| Gr. 10 Math Academic | 80 | 68 | 63 | 96 | 95 |