Abstract

Although standardized testing is an educational phenomenon which has been extensively studied, many of the existing studies are large in scale, quantitative in nature, and conducted outside of Québec. Few qualitative studies have examined teacher opinions about the impact of standardized testing on mathematics education in Québec secondary schools. The present exploratory, qualitative, phenomenological case study aims to enrich the current understanding of uniform mathematics exams in the Québec context and potentially inform future research. Teacher opinions and experiences were targeted because teachers are familiar with provincial curriculum, educational standards, desired outcomes, and the uniform exams themselves, plus they interact directly with the students writing the exams. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven secondary school mathematics teachers in a single Montréal-area school. Data were analyzed for emerging themes, and results suggest that secondary school math teachers find various aspects of uniform math exams problematic, including multiple-choice questions, marking of short-answer questions, and the overall validity and reliability of exams. Furthermore, results suggest that uniform math exams in Québec have some impact on instruction and learning, specifically in terms of course pacing, the use of old uniform exams as practice, increased student stress, and potentially effects of teaching and/or learning “to the test”, all of which are consistent with findings in related literature.