NEWS |
THE OBSERVER | Saturday, September 19, 2009
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Retailing a new lease on life for old Roxton building .................................»13 Kings back in action
»20 VOLUME 14, ISSUE 37
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2009
www.ObserverXtra.com
» EDUCATION
making it official
Test results a mixed bag for schools Boards, local schools post relatively strong results JONI MILTENBURG
WELcOME TO THE WMc Hundreds of people gathered outside of the new Woolwich Memorial Centre in Elmira Sept. 12 for the official opening ceremonies, including a ribbon-cutting by the mayor and councillors. Inset: Mayor Bill Strauss leads his daughter-in-law Becky Strauss and grandchildren Zachary, Meghan and Noah through the doors just as the building opens. Woolwich Recreaction Facilities Foundation chair Paul Bossenberry accompanies them.
AN EVENTFUL DAY Coun.Ruby Weber, council’s biggest supporter of the WMC project, was all smiles at the grand opening, a long way from the early discussion six years ago. The township hosted a barbeque for some 1,100 people. Right, Paul Bossenberry gave one of the event’s livelier speeches.
Results from last year’s Grade 3, 6, and 9 EQAO assessments were mixed for both the Waterloo public and Catholic boards, as well as local schools. The Education Quality and Accountability Office tests Grade 3 and 6 students on reading, writing and mathematics, and Grade 9 students on mathematics. Across the province, 77 per cent of academic math students and 38 per cent of applied math students were at or above the provincial standard (Level 3 or 4). Of Grade 3 students, 61 per cent were at or above the provincial standard for reading, 68 per cent for writing and 70 per cent for mathematics. Among Grade 6 students, 69 per cent met the standard for reading, 67 the standard for writing and 63 for mathematics. Students in the Catholic board met or exceeded provincial results in seven of eight categories, and the five-year trend has been improvement in all areas. The most significant improvement came in the area of Grade 3 writing, where results are eight percentage points higher than five years ago. Bruce Rodrigues, superintendent of instruction and assessment, said the Catholic board’s scores are not an accident; educators within the board have looked closely at previous assessment results and make changes to their teaching strategies accordingly. “When we know that there are places that we can improve, we try to rally people See EQAO page »08
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