By Rick Pusiak
While results of a provincial literacy test for Grade 10 students enrolled at English schools in Ontario werenÂ?t totally spectacular, there is some good news from the Rainbow District School Board.
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Test scores for pupils at the local English public school board improved by nine per cent from the previous year.
"Our results reflect the provincial average with 74 per cent of those who completed the test passing,Â? said board superintendent Joan Mantle. Â?That tells us the measures we put in place last year have worked thanks to our teachers."
The board placed literacy department heads in each of its secondary schools in Sudbury, Espanola and Manitoulin Island and each school developed a literacy plan.
Â?Our department leaders prepared our teachers to assist students in succeeding,Â? said Mantle. Â?There's no doubt that the board's plan and the professionalism of our principals and teachers were responsible for this great improvement.Â?
In fact, many of the schools under the boardÂ?s jurisdiction improved by more than 10 per cent.
The Ministry of Education's Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test of Grade 10 students was carried out in February of 2002.
Students are required to pass the test to earn their high school diploma. Those who weren't successful will write the test again.
Results announced this week by the province's Education Quality and Accountability Office indicated about 25 per cent of Grade 10 students in Ontario failed part or the entire test.
