The Goderich Signal-Star, 2009-03-18, Page 6Page 6 - Goderich Signal -Star, Wednesday, March 18, 2009
www.goderichsignalstar.com
Proprietor and published by Bowes Publishers, P.O. Box 220, 120 Huckins Street, Goderich, Ontario N7A 4B6
EDITORIAL
Is the current curriculum
meeting student's needs?
"It probably wouldn't hurt to do that" Premier Dalton McGuinty said this week.
No it wouldn't.
The "that" he's talking about is gathering the numbers on how many high school
students graduate in four years.
Right now, the province compiles the number of students who graduate, including
those who have decided to stick around for a fifth year, even though the provincial
curriculum is designed to have students complete a four-year high school education.
That change came in 1999, when the new four-year curriculum was introduced. The
first students to graduate did so at the end of the 2002-03 school year, along with their
counterparts who were finishing up the five-year curriculum.
You'll remember the curriculum that left colleges and universities struggling with
the "double cohort" in the fall of 2003. The curriculum that left students stressed that
they had to figure out what they wanted to do with their lives when some of them were
graduating at the age of 17. Some students probably still feel that way.
When that first round of four-year kids graduated, it didn't look too good.
A study by Queen's University professor Alan King found the graduation rate for
high school students in the four-year program in the 2002-03 school year was 57 per
cent. It rose to 59 per cent in the second year, and 70 per cent when those who opted
for a fifth year were included.
In that first year, more than one-third of the Ontario students expected to graduate
after four years failed to do so. And of those 53,000 students who didn't graduate
after four years, 28,000 returned to high school, but at the time about half were
expected to drop out.
The province needs to figure out how many students are graduating from high
school after four years. (The Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation esti-
mates the number is around 70 per cent.) If many students are coming back for a
year five, that calls into question whether the curriculum needs to be revamped, or
whether we need to consider bringing back an official fifth year.
McGuinty said this week what's most important is that children graduate from
high school, and it doesn't matter much to him as a parent if it's in four years or
five.
"There are a number of kids who just say, 'No, I am taking a fifth year, I am not
ready for college or university,' or 'I don't feel ready for the workforce,' " McGuinty.
told a reporter.
Fine, but isn't the education premier concerned that shortcomings in the four-year
high school curriculum might be what's leading students to stick around for a fifth
year? Maybe some of them don't feel ready for college or university or the work-
force because high school hasn't properly prepared them for those next steps in
life. •
I know from experience that those fifth -year OAC courses were great preparation
for university. They encouraged independent and critical thinking.
The province needs to take a look at what percentage of students are graduating
in four years, and also talk to those who stick around for a fifth about why they're
doing so.
Comparing four-year grads to five-year grads might have worked in the first
couple of years of the new curriculum, but now that we're six school years removed
from when that first group of four-year students graduated, the province needs to
collect information on how many students graduate in the intended period of time.
Until then, we're doing students a disservice by not examining whether the exist-
ing curriculum is meeting their needs. (Sun Media)
1MtNN
The Goderich Signa! -Star,
published eery Wednesday at Goderich, Ontario is one_of The
Signal -Stat Publishing Group of Community Newspapers, a division
of Bowes Publishers. The Goderich Signal Star shall not be liable for
failure to publish an ad for typographical errors in publication
except to the extent of the cost of that portion of the ad in which the
error occurrrd. The Goderich Signal -Star reserves the right to reject
or edit any advertisement.
The Goderkh Signal -Star is a proud member of the Canadian
Community Newspapers Association (CCNA) and The Ontario
Cammtur4 y Newspapers Association (OCNA).
er1sr0l+MNnt
Editorial Deadlines...
Monday at 10 am
Advertising Deadlines...
Entertainment, Births, Deaths,
In Memoriams... Friday at 3 pm
Classifieds... Monday at noon
Display Advertising... Monday at noon
Telephone
Fax....
Publisher...
Reporters...
519-524-2614
519-524-5145
Dave Sykes
Your questions could come up
over dinner with MP Ben Lobb
To the Editor;
I was the lucky bidder at the Kinsmen auc-
tion to have the dinner in Ottawa with
Huron -Bruce MP, Ben Lobb.
I bid on the item because I have many
questions to pose to our member of parlia-
ment.
I want to know what the community
Letters
opt—on
would like me to ask Ben Lobb. This is an
opportunity to have me ask questions direct-
ly and get straight answers.
I have a list and will not be shy in asking.
Cindy Bazinet
Clear solution causes confusion
To the Editor;
I have a question that maybe you could get
answered for me. My question is, I have two
items with recycle symbols on them that
keep returning to my blue box – Are they
recyclable? The items in questionare a black
plastic with the number one in a triangle, and
a black foam with the number six in a Irian -
40
Dominique Milburn
Gerard Creces
Denny Scott
gle. Both items with the symbols, I thought,
were recyclable. Please help me with this as
I want to recycle as much as possible –
should they be put in the clear garbage bag?
What do I do?
Dianne Scott
Goderich
Classifieds & Subscription... Judy Austin
Accounting... Rhonda Butt
Mary Johnston
Janet Shrier
Office Manager...
Display Sales... Lisa McLaren
Advertising Manager... Kevin Shrier
Email...
gssnews@bowesnet.com,gsssports@bowesnet.com
gssads@bowesnet.com, goderichads@bowesnet.com
website...
www goderichsignalstarcom •
Pusucsnae MAL know T No. 40064683
PAP REois lou No. 7602
RETURN UNDE ►veuetE COMOINI Aptness
To:
CiftuN don Dept.,
120HucknsSt.,P.O.Box 120,
aodedich, ON,
NTA 486
(518) 5242614
lg a:
We acknowledge the firiandal support of the Government of
Canada, through the Publkatbns Assistance Program (PAP),
toward our mailing costs.
CanacV , Amla