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w x8 economist suntribune education thursday march 8 2001 sale ends this weekend save total when you buy 4 response rst touring 2000 tires our lowest prices of the season c799 from j each p17570r13 sears reg 7499 save 1725 per tire includes road hazard warranty and free tire rotation every 10000 km 59000 senes complete details at sears save 1q diehard gold and diehafd international vbaiteiik- 99 99 each with tradein j sears reg 10999 with tradein v 850000 series there is a 5 deposit when you buy a hew bat- v r teiy at seats refundable with the return your old battery for recycling -n- y y nearestsearsautomotiye centre for your full auto service needs q iare shops vopeh mbnffi 730alrn900 ptms sat 800m600 pmsun12hdbrf5 pm ay testing from page 1 5 per cent passed writing but failed reading we were not satisfied with the results at all we had a very high failure rate said bob glass interim chief exec utive officer for the education quality and accountability office eqao a significant number failed the writ- ingportion doingsummaries express ing opinions he noted whether they didnt read it didnt understand it or sim ply didnt do it we dont know as for the gender gaps glass said it was time to review the types of materials teachers are putting in front of boys york district public school board chair crothers insisted the results are not realistic i dont think the results mean anything he said if the results are accurate one would be disappointed but i dont think they reflect the capabili ties of this years grade 10 students crothers said schools in his board will show results all over the map because this years test was a trial run and neither teachers iior students knew what to expect and since this first test would not keep failing students from graduating crothers believes students may not have taken it seriously that seems to be confirmed in the attitude of some students several mdhs students said the test was a waste of time not only because it was a trial run but didnt replace exams its just a mark on a piece of paper agreed student neq caron grade 11 we have to write exams anyway of all the students interviewed the answer to one question was the same did you study hard of course not their english teacher steve murray agreed there was no motivation for- the students to do well this year and worse that a failing grade next year may prompt students to become discouraged and drop out because it does mean so much students can write the test three times before grade 12 the results show one of two things the governments right and there is something very wrong with the nature of education or something is very wrong with the test itself he said everyone has to see their responsibility in this the danger is not the results themselves but how theyre used at stouffville district secondary school students are claiming the litera cy test causes stress should be given to older students and could be imposing too high of standards on the students the literacy test is a dumb idea said mike thornhill 16 they should move the test to the later stages of high school sdss students noticed that females scored better than the males and they know why girls have more interest in seeking professional careers said daniel crawford 15 i think more males fail the test than females because they dont care as much about getting into college said the grade 9 student york catholic district school board chair elizabeth crowe said whether or not this years results count they can still be used to improve literacy skills in the students who wrote the test and the ones coming up after them we have to get strategies in place to address these issues crowe said i do know and am happy to say our board did better than the provincial average but ifs still not good enough board results are out today and indi vidual schools can release their results april 9 if schools choose not to the eqao will release those results april 27 open every saturday s n n d ay isll siwirfl v5 copyright 2001 sears canada lnc i lilipta josfma morrow of r appearing march j oth at 3 pm 6 dont miss march 25th hiphop group untamed performs hits from their new cd flea i market farmers market antique market warehouse sales entertainment www pickeringmarketscom the pickering markets metro east trade centre never a dull moment