A newspaper story in today's paper indicates only 3/4 of our Canadian
High School students every achieve Literacy. Even after having
succesfully passed thru 10 years of Grade School Education.
Ontario and Alberta require students to pass a simply literacy test
upon completion of Grade 10. The student must pass it before he
graduates from High School. Otherwise he doesn't get his Diploma.
Growing numbers of High School student can not demonstrate any
Reading ability. Teachers are complaining about these tests, saying
that not giving a student a High School Diploma unfairly handicaps
him in the workplace. But isn't illiteracy a handicap.
Not apparently
See attached news article. They actually consider 77% an
improvement!!!!
Regards, Paul V.
P.S. I assume the results are the same or worse in the United States,
where grade inflation is rampant.
Are there any statistics out there about local literacy.
_______________attached___________________________________
Literacy test results improve.
Increases in all Grade 10 levels in Ontario Canada
KRISTIN RUSHOWY AND LOUISE BROWN
EDUCATION REPORTERS
Reported in www.thestar.com
More Grade 10 students have passed the province's mandatory literacy
test than ever before — but educators are still concerned about the
large numbers of students who fail each year, leaving them at risk of
never graduating.
After a disappointing dip in the 2002/03 school year, this year's
results were up in all categories:
* 77 per cent of the 129,000 students who wrote the test passed, up
from 72 per cent in 2002/03 and 75 per cent in 2001/03.
* 90 per cent of students in the academic stream were successful,
compared to 85 per cent in 2002/03.
* In the less rigorous applied stream, however, just 49 per cent of
students passed, although that was an increase over the 38 per cent
in 2002/03.
Education Minister Gerard Kennedy said he was pleased test scores
have rebounded, but still believes "students can do better — and this
test puts me on the hook to help these students to do the best they
can."
He said his government's plans to boost literacy in lower grades
should pay off in higher Grade 10 literacy scores.
Meanwhile, the province's testing body has been tracking this year's
graduating class — who wrote the test in the 2001/02 school year, and
are the first in Ontario history to have such a graduation
requirement. Almost 90 per cent are believed to have passed either
the test or a make-up course, said Marguerite Jackson, chief
executive officer of the Education Quality and Accountability Office
(EQAO).
However Annie Kidder, of advocacy group, "People for Education", said
that figure does not take into account the number of students who
have dropped out of school in frustration, thinking they will never
pass the test.
--- In shavian@..., "paul vandenbrink"
<pvandenbrink@s...> wrote:
> A simpler auxillary system would provide many benefits for Russian
> Language speakers, but obviously
> they are not in as desperate a situation as English, where actual
> Literacy is compromised and endangered if the current trends
> continue.
>
> Regards, Paul V.
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