Dekeguy,

I guess the Canadian school systems are somewhere in between a UK/European systems and the American system. Education here is controlled by the provincial government. The government sets out standards that all schools must teach, how many courses students must take to complete their diploma, and whether there are exit exams for graduation (Ontario currently does not have a set of exams one must pass in Grade 12 in order to graduate). We do have a literacy test that Grade 10s must pass (see my earlier post for results of some Toronto area schools). If one doesn't pass it (and many who aren't in the academic stream do not), one can either take it again, or take an equivilancy course. Private high schools must follow the curriculum to be accredited, and are inspected regularly to make sure that things are done properly. Grades are done in percentages, with a pass being 50% and the provincial "standard" of a good mark being 70% (I don't think there are any universities that will take anyone below 70). However, different schools may see 70% differently. A 70% essay at a strongly academic high school (e.g. North Toronto Collegiate Institute or a private university prep school), where (almost) all students pass the literacy test is probably better written than a 70% essay at a school where few students pass.

Do you think there might be some bias when these results are calculated...I know it might sound a little out there, but do you think some of the results could be skewed in favour of some of the Collegiate Institutes?

I know the universities track the highschools and certain grades might be overlooked depending on where you go to highschool.

Now, I'm not saying that these students aren't smart and haven't worked hard and legitimatly know their material. But I'm just wondering. Maybe not so much with the provincial testing, but in other things

Just a though.

I don't think the Grade 10 literacy exam favours certain high schools necessarily, but rather, favours those in the academic stream. Grade 10s write the same exam province-wide, while there are two separate exams for Grade 9 math (one for those taking applied and another for those in the academic stream).

Maybe there should be two different sets of tests?

I've wondered that too, and actually asked why they didn't have two tests. I was told that the government wanted a "standard".

What a BS answer. How can there be a "standard" if students are learning different things? If I'm in the C stream the math will be different if I'm in the U stream (using the new curriculum designations" If there's going to be a standard then all students should have the exact same curriculum...there shouldn't be different streams.

[slight hijack] Taualumna, have you ever considered becoming a teacher? [/slight hijack]

That's exactly what I thought!

Quote:

[slight hijack] Taualumna, have you ever considered becoming a teacher? [/slight hijack]

Thought about it, but I'm not really sure if I want to, seeing what's going on in schools these days.

ETA: I'd love to do behind-the-scenes stuff with school boards or with the government, but most jobs want you to have actual classroom teaching experience.