HomeMy WebLinkAboutGoderich Signal Star, 2011-09-21, Page 35igna! Star • Wednesday, Seotemb.r,21,.2Qi
the Walk: Residents invited to Local school boards release EQAO results
shape a more active community HPCDSB tops in all categories,
AMDSB outperforms in math
and to get around in Huron
without a vehicle. And the
of Huron and Township of North
want to talk about how to make
unty more friendly to walkers,
rollers and hikers.
n County Warden and North
Reeve, Neil Vincent, says, "In
County we are very dependent
or vehicles and spend very little
sting around as pedestrians. I'm
about beginning the conversa-
ut how we can bea more active-
nation friendly community"
:ounty of Huron and the Town -
North Huron are hosting a corn-
forum, called Huron County
N. The forum is the first step in
inning improving the ability to
d bike in towns and villages. It is
all residents who are interested
ing more about how they can
heir community a place for
r and happier residents.
n County MovingON
day, September 29, 2011
,, .
J
Blyth Community Hall
Warden Vincent adds, "We're looking
forward to bringing people together to
share their ideas and experiences of
walking, rolling, hiking and cycling so
we can start talking about how we envi-
sion Huron County as a more vibrant,
active region for everyone."
The community forum m is presented
by Ontario Communities walkON, a
partnership of Green Communities
Canada and 8 - 80 Cities, (http://www.
canadawalks.ca/project.walkon.asp),
with support from the Ontario Trillium
Foundation and the Ontario Ministry of
Health Promotion.
Jacky Kennedy, Director, Canada
Walks at Green Communities says,
"How walkable a community is has a
significant impact on children, youth
and seniors, persons with mobility chat-
lenges, people living with low incomes,
new immigrants, property owners, and
business owners. This community
forum will be of great interest to every-
one and we hope to see lots of people
from the community there."
LE
oom or new models...
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DAY EVENT
urs., Fri., Sat.
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po01:211rari
fM MARQU I S S PAS,.
RR#2, 35647 Huron Rd.
Hwy. 8 Goderich,
519-524-9804
www.biuehorizon.on.ca:
Rita Marshall
OMI Agency
Both local school boards were optimistic after
releasing their EQAO results September 19.
The results measured local student achievement
against Ontario curriculum expectations in eight cat-
egories: Grade 3 reading, writing and mathematics,
Grade 6 reading, writing and rnathernatics and Grade
9 mathematics in the academic and applied
programs.
The Huron Perth Catholic District School Board
(HPCDSB) outperformed the provincial average in
all eight categories. The larger Avon Maitland District
School Board (AMDSB) surpassed the provincial
average in all mathematics categories.
Dan Parr, superintendent of education at the
HPCDSB, said the board is "pleased and proud" with
its results, but will continue to work with students
who aren't meeting the provincial standard.
"We want all students to achieve at that high level,"
he said.
Both school boards' Grade 9 students tested
among the highest in the province.
Overall, 83% of Ontario Grade 9 academic students
met or surpassed the, provincial, standard. In the
AMDSB, 87% of students met or surpaassed the stand-
ard while 90% did in the HPCDSB,
The provincial average for Grade 9 applied math
students was 42%. HPCDSB students came in at 43%
while AMDSB students came in at 48%.
Kim Black, AMDSB superintendent of education,
curriculuin, said one of the board's math improve-
ment strategies has been cross -panel teams of Grade
7, 8 and 9 teachers working together to prepare stu-
dents for the Grade 9 testing.
She credited the teachers, support staff and par
ents of AMDSB students for the continuing improve-
ment of scores.
The%PCDSB's Grade 6 reading score was among
the highest in the province, with 85% of students
meeting or surpassing the provincial standard, com-
pared to the provincial average of 74%. The HPCDSB
Grade 6 writing score was 78% compared to the pro-
vincial average of 73%.
The AMDSB's Grade 6 reading and writing scores
were lower than the provincial average - 73% and
68%, respectively.
Those scores are "significant improvements" said
the AMDSB in a press release, noting that the reading
score is an increase of three percentage points over
two years ago, while the writing score is an increase
of six percentage points.
The AMDSB also gained in its Grade 3 writing
score, increasing 3 points to 66% compared to the
provincial average of 73%. Its Grade 3.reading score
stayed at 58% compared to the provincial average of
65%, while the Grade 3- math score dropped two
points to 71%, still above the provincial average of
69%.
The HPCDSB Grade 3 students' results in reading,
writing and math were 71%, 77%, and 78%
respectively.
The AMDSB compared its current Grade 6 stu-
dents' results to the results when those students took
the Grade 3 EQAO} tests. They found that 15% of stu-
dents who tested below the provincial standard in
Grade 3 reading met or surpassed the Grade 6
standard. -
Comparing the scores for writing, the board found
that 9% of students who tested below the provincial
standard in Grade 3 had met or surpassed the Grade
6 standard.
In its press release, the AMDSB also broke out per-
formance by gender, noting that females outper-
formed males in all categories in both the Grade 3
and Grade 6 groups. The gender gap is largest to writ-
ing, where girls outperformed boys by 20% points in
Grade 3 testing and by points in Grade 6 testing.
The gap is smallest in mathematics, where -Grade 3
and Grade 6 girls outperformed the bows by 7% and
8% respectively.
Black said that an in-depth analysis of gender per-
formance trends reveals a gap that sometimes closes
and sometimes reverses, but "essentially, it's some-
thing that just doesn't go away"
Like other school boards, the AMDSB is still work-
ing on further strategies to deal with the gap.
The tests were taken in the spring of 2011. Both
boards and their schools will use the results to further
develop learning strategies for students.
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