Huron Expositor, 2001-12-19, Page 3News
Scott Hilgendorff photo
Pajama parade
Students at Seaforth District High School dressed in their pajamas and some even brought their teddy bears to school for the
event organized by the students' council.
Board proud of Grade 3 results
despite opposing comparisons
By Stew Slater
Special to The Huron Expositor
Two weeks after stressing
that board -by -board
comparisons are of limited
value when analyzing results
from provincially -standardized
tests, officials of the Avon
Maitland District School
Board were inspired by
positive Grade 9 Math results
to issue a media release
emphasizing such
comparisons.
"Avon Maitland students
tops in province," reads the
headline on the document,
issued Friday, Dec. 7 on the
heels of a province -wide
release of information from the
Education Quality and
Accountability Office
(EQAO), an arms -length
government agency which
administers the tests. Within
the media release, director of
education Lorne Rachlis is
quoted as saying, "it's not often
we get the chance to say we're
number one."
Two weeks ago, education
superintendent Marjatta
Longston told the media that
board -by -board comparisons
of EQAO results "should be
Mike Miller new chair
of Catholic school board
The importance of faith is
always acknowledged in
meetings of the Huron -Perth
Catholic District School Board,
in the form of opening and
closing prayers, or in such
discussions as those tackling
how to incorporate religious
courses into the more vigorous
new four-year high school
curriculum.
But according to the board's
new chair, Mike Miller, the
brief agenda of the annual
"inaugural meeting" -- when
positions of chair, vice -chair,
and area chairs are selected --
provides a special opportunity
to reaffirm the role of faith in
the responsibilities of a
Catholic school trustee.
"Even the word is very
important, because I like to
think people pick someone they
really do trust," he said,
following the Huron -Perth
board's inaugural meeting
Monday, Dec. 3.
Operator of a landscaping
business at St. Joseph, Miller
was acclaimed to the position
of chair after 1999 chair.
Bernard Murray declined his
nomination.
Murray was subsequently
acclaimed as vice -chair, with
no other nominees. Area chairs
for the upcoming year are as
follows: Mary -Catherine
McKeon in education, outgoing
chair Ron Marcy in
management, and outgoing
vice -chair Vincent McInnes in
personnel.
Prior to the inaugural
meeting, trustees and staff
participated in a devotional
ceremony, based on the
Christmas -time story of the
three wise men but offering
lessons which have relevance
to the work of trustees. The
musically -talented Rev.
Maurice Charbonneau,
chaplain for the board,
provided both a Bible reading
and leadership for the singing
of a hymn to conclude the
devotion.
'It just seems so natural for
us to do our inaugural meeting
this way," Miller explained
following his acclamation. The
board alternates through a
series of such ceremonies for its
inaugural meetings, but Miller
says he found particular
inspiration in this year's
edition.
"It was about following the
light and also being the light. It
was about leading by example,"
he explained. "And, as trustees,
we expect that not only of
ourselves, but also of our
school administrators and our
staff -- to lead our students by
example."
Miller, who has three
children in the Huron -Perth
board and two in post-
secondary studies, has served
on the board since 1992. He has
held the post of chair once
before, in 1996.
By Stew Slater
avoided." That came after the
province -wide release of
Grade 3 and 6 literacy results
which, for the third year in a
row, showed Avon Maitland
students to be improving but
still below the provincial
average.
Contrary to the tone of the
headline and Rachlis's
comment, much of the Avon
Maitland press release rings
true with Longston's recent
statements. Longston herself
credits teachers and pledges
continued assistance "in their
instructional strategies."
And board chair Colleen
Schenk says, "it shows we are
providing the right tools to our
students during the critical
transition years from Grade 7
through to 9. However, we
cannot rest on our laurels; we
must continue to strive
towards . . . improv(ing)
student achievement at all
levels."
Avon Maitland'§ Grade 9
Math results, achieved during
tests written in the spring of
2001, do carry some
significance, however, in light
of the controversy which has
erupted over the province -
wide statistics. Many critics
are concerned that students in
the Applied stream (hoping to
enter community college or the
workforce following
secondary school) scored
alarmingly low, with only
about 13 per cent reaching a
standard set by the provincial
government. In the Avon
Maitland board, 25 per cent of
Applied -stream Grade 9s
achieved or surpassed that
standard.
According to provincial
government guidelines,
school -by -school results from
the Math tests must be released
early in the New Year.
Board -wide results for the
Huron -Perth Catholic District
School Board were not
released because it contains
only two secondary schools..
The EQAO requires more than
three secondary schools before
board -wide results are
released, because the yet -to -
be -released school -by -school
results are much more
meaningful in such cases.
Asked to comment on the
recent Avon Maitland media
release, Huron -Perth education
superintendent Ray Contois
stated he hadn't seen the
document. However, after
being reminded that Huron -
Perth issued no such release
when its Grade 3 and 6 results
were among the highest in
southwestern Ontario in 2000,
Contois said, simply, "you
can't have it both ways."
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