Ontario Parents Suing Literacy Test

[kappaloo]

Originally posted by Lady Pi Phi
I took some sort of reading/literacy test in grade 9

Was it provincal? I know prior to the education reforms, most testing was done at the school board level (since all curriculum was determined by the school boards, as opposed to now, when the curriculum is determined by the province). I know I took testing 3,6, and 9... but I can't remember if the grade 9 one was provincial as well as school board, or just the school boards.

[kappaloo]

once again, I'm a doofus. They really do need to move the 'quote' button away from the 'edit' button.

or I need to wake up. one of the two.

[Taualumna]

I took that Grade 9 literacy test too. It was implemented by the NDP government back in the early-mid 90s and only lasted two years. From what I remember, I did pretty well, getting above average scores in both reading and writing. It was kind of easy, actually.

[Lady Pi Phi]

Originally posted by kappaloo
Was it provincal? I know prior to the education reforms, most testing was done at the school board level (since all curriculum was determined by the school boards, as opposed to now, when the curriculum is determined by the province). I know I took testing 3,6, and 9... but I can't remember if the grade 9 one was provincial as well as school board, or just the school boards.

I don't remember who administered it, but I do remember it was stupid.

[RACooper]

Well to play devil's advocate.....

I think the tests are a good thing.

Way back when.... when I was in Highschool I remember the parents trying to force the History teacher and the English teacher to change the format and subject of their tests because so many kids were failing..... they also claimed it was biased against their background (in this case Italian). The teachers to prove their point that it wasn't the subject matter but the students changed the subject matter being taught for 2 weeks (Roman History, Italian Unification, the Rensiasance, Modern Italian History, Italian Immigration to Canada) geared towards what the parents said would be relative to their kids backgrounds, and tested the students on it.... guess what the pass/fail numbers were pretty much the same. Basically if it wasn't about hockey, soccer, girls, music, or cars most of these kids never bothered to pick-up a magazine nevermind a book.

The tests are supposed to test the students on the subject matter that they have been taught, not their lifestyle or background. If the effort is made, then results should reflect this.... I had to make an effort to learn about the language, history, and politics of Italy and I couldn't have cared less about at the time; but I still passed the test, even though the subject wasn't "relative" to my lifestyle or background.

[Lady Pi Phi]

I'm not saying standardized tests are bad. My problem with the grade 10 test is and most tests, is that, some teachers don't bother to teach the material that is to be tested
Of course some kids don't bother to study, but we've all had at least one teacher that has been complete crap and hasn't taught you a damn thing.

[RACooper]

Originally posted by Lady Pi Phi
Of course some kids don't bother to study, but we've all had at least one teacher that has been complete crap and hasn't taught you a damn thing.

So True......

But the test cuts both ways if you think about it. Yes some kids will never make an effort and they'll get burnt for it. But if a teacher is crap too, that shows up through testing to..... "hmmm how come this particular school always does poorly? Is it the students, or the teachers?". Trust me, when parents see that there kids school doesn't do great they ask ALOT of questions. I volunteer at my old elementary school, and two teachers were "let go" because the kids consitently scored below the other schools in the area.... and now the they score higher.