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stouffvffle suntribune saturday june 16 2007 5 langstaff secondary a model students kept on toes with continuing testing of reading comprehension skills by teresa latchford staff writer york region high schools can learn from langstaff secondary school when it comes to literacy testing the richmond hill high school is one of 12 ontario schools selected by the education quality and accountability office to be profiled based results of this years ontario secondary school literacy testosslt the school has been selected because of its improvement of results over time eqao chief assessment offi cer victoria hemming said since first giving the test in 2002 lang staff secondary school has increased the rate of success among fully participating firsttime eligible students by 14 per cent and of those in applied classes by 17 per cent in the report shool staff will discuss what the results of the testing and other data have taught them about their students as well as the innova tive approaches used to address specific learning needs data from the osslt is used to pro vide the school with a baseline for stu dent literacy achievement principal peter milovanovic said we use the information to identi fy areas of strength and areas needing improvement in addition to having a common liter acy focus across all subject departments within the school one of the keys to suc cess in the local school is a staff literacy committee he added consisting of members from across the schools departments and admin istrators the committees responsibili ties are to analyse data such as eqao results identify which initiatives are working and address gaps though the development of an action plan we also have targeted instruction specific to literacy in the classroom he said we think it is important to have our students prepared to prepare students for the literacy test activities modelled after those on the test are conducted in one grade 10 period over a span of two weeks for example a grade 10 science class may read a selection of text and then be asked to write a paragraph to assess their com prehension of what they have read its a refresher for students he explained the teacher will then give them feedback to what they have com pleted preparing students also includes pointing out the practice options on the eqao website lunch hour instructional sessions for students who are not in grade 10 but still need to successfully complete the literacy test and a five- week afterschool programs its a good way for our students to brush up on their skills mr milovanovic said ideally we would like to see 100 per cent of our students be successful on the test we arent there yet so we still have work to do the school is continuing to collect data about the students in order to iden tify needs and trends langstaff has surveyed asking stu dents about literacy habits outside of school once analysed the data could provide yrtviva public information centres yrt viva invites you to attend one of our two upcoming public information centres come out to review the draft 2008 service plans and offer your valuable feedback north location when tuesday june 26 2007 700 pm900 pm where first floor seminar room york administrative centre 17250 yonge street newmarket south location when thursday june 28 2007 700 pm900 pm where first floor corporate learning rooms a b york region south service centre 50 high tech road richmond hill for more information call yrtviva at i866m0veyrt 6683978 or visit the yrt viva website at wwwyrtca yorkconnected viva information such as learning styles spe cific to gender and what interests could be used to further engage students by profiling schools such as lang staff in the provincial report other schools can identify geographically with one another ms hemming said the schools can then look at the successes of those similar and identify initiatives which might work for them for the osslt results for your school visit mm yorkregioncom and click onthe eqao link weiiteftertising works at yorkregioncom we offer an easily customized mix of targeted advertising opportunities across different areas of our site well position your advertising to ensure the best exposure for your business ask us about custom website design website hosting and video clips providing affordable internet solutions for businesses contact dawna andrews yorkregion com 18773628970 or email it clicks home dandreffsyrmgcora for more information durhamyork residual waste nviroiimeiital assessment study public information session health risk assessment feasibility study on june 19 2007 york region will be hosting an information session to present and discuss the progress of the environmental assessment ea to date and the findings of the preliminary health and ecological risk study associated with the recommended energy from waste facility additional information sessions are also planned in durham region for more information on the durhamyork residual waste ea study or to review the draft report please visit the study website at wwwdurhamvorkwasteca or contact us at 1866398423 the foilowing information session will be held from 630 pm to 930 pm a formal presentation will begin at 700 pm tuesday june 19 2007 roman palace banquet hall 1096 ringwell road town of newmarket please note that a duplicate session originally scheduled for thursday june 21 2007 has been cancelled due to a scheduling conflict please register in advance of this session by calling 18663984423 im ewssaaari residents are encouraged to attend the town of east gwillimburys green bin collection open house on thursday june 21 2007 at the towns civic centre 19000 leslie street sharon ontario from 530 pm to 830 pm m mm the town of east gwillimbury is targeting 75 waste diversion for more information on the durhamyork residual waste ea study please visit wwwdurhamyorkwasteca or call 18663984423 experience the tranquility of a pampering spa treatment body wrap includes a relaxing foot and 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