Alberta Distance Learning Centre (ADLC) markers will soon find a little extra in the pay packet.
During the April 26 meeting in Barrhead, Pembina Hills Public Schools (PHPS) trustees unanimously approved a new administration fee marking budget of $1.6 million for the coming year.
“What we are hoping is that this extra admin fee will help us keep some of those markers around,” said ADLC assistant Supt. Brett Cooper.
Due to the extra workload, ADLC is having problems retaining markers and as a result, a lot of effort is being extended to recruiting.
ADLC markers are certified teachers who work from home and mark a wide variety of assignments, which are delegated to them by the course instructor.
Compensation ranges from about $22 for an individual assignment per student to close to $300 for a course such as English 20.
“Our teachers aren’t opposed to be marking and you can’t be in the profession without doing it, but when you are set up like we are with class sizes 300 to 500 students who are all at different places in a course, it is impossible for one person to do it,” he said. “The markers are critical.”
At one time, he said a marker’s job was fairly simple — students would send in their work on paper or electronically.
However, over the last three years, markers are increasingly being asked to take on more of an administrative role.
“When we introduced the student information package software Genius, that impacted the amount of administrative responsibility that we unloaded onto our markers,” Cooper said. “The things we are asking them to do is above and beyond and that is why we are recommending that we pay them an admin fee.”
Cooper added that retaining markers is important because they also act as ADLC’s substitute teacher list.
Trustee Jackie Comeau asked what percentage of marking is done by the teacher and what is done by the marker.
Cooper said that varies depending on the course. For Career and Technology Studies courses (CTS), markers tend to have to do the bulk of the grading because of the class size.
“We have one CTS teacher whose class has over 1,300 students,” he said. “For the elementary and junior high level, the amount the teacher marks is way higher because we recognize the importance of relationship building. It really does depend on the course and I would say it is higher in the core courses — the Math, English, Socials.”
ADLC is in the process of evaluating its marking model through a pilot program in two Social Studies classes where the teacher is responsible for everything, from instruction to evaluation, in an effort to improve student completion rates.
Trustee Comeau asked how the administrative fee would be administered.
Cooper said they are still in the process of working out the details, but it would probably be based on a percentage of the course-marking rate.
