SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT

The EQAO Results in Perspective

GUEST BLOG BY PETER McLARTY, RETIRED TEACHER, SAULT STE MARIE

A news report regarding the EQAO test results for the Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board (my former employer) leaves me speechless. http://www.sootoday.com/content/news/details.asp?c=47060 

How can the board brag about these results! How long is the public going to put up with these pathetic results? All of this testing and analysis and still more than one-third of the students are not making the standard….especially in mathematics. And yet students continue to be pushed along. 

One of my greatest regrets in teaching senior level chemistry was that most of the unsuccessful students failed not because of their lack of scientific knowledge but from their inability to do the applied mathematical problems! Sadly, I see little hope for change because all those now employed in education are products of this disfunctional system. A little harsh, but that is the way I see it.

I have moved away from educational conflicts and am enjoying more rewarding persuits. I have totally lost faith in public education.