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 We can’t afford to have 30 per cent of
our students not graduate
According to recent press reports, Gerald Kennedy, Ontario’s
minister of education, is distressed that 30 per cent of the province’s
students did not graduate from high school. Old news, I wrote a column for The
Londoner in October 2003 entitled, Some Sobering News About Ontario’s New
Curriculum.
Ken Coran, vice president of the Ontario School Teacher’s
Federation kindly forwarded the 146-page report – Double Cohort Study for the
Ontario Ministry of Education. Let’s compare the secondary graduation rates of
five provinces in 2002-03.
Here are the stats: Alberta, 67 per cent; British Columbia.,
72 per cent; New Brunswick, 83 per cent; and Nova Scotia, 82 per cent success
rate. How about Ontario you ask? We rank fifth with 57 per cent of students
graduating in four years and 70 per cent taking five years to receive their
diploma.
Of the 70 per cent who graduated, 33 per cent went on to
university, 19 per cent to community college and 18 per cent went to work or
other; 30 per cent did not graduate.
Bill Bryce, director of the Thames Valley School Board,
informed me that 30 per cent of our students did not graduate from high school.
He says 2,890 or approximately 33 per cent of the student body returned for a
fifth year to try and complete or upgrade their secondary education.
The applied level Ontario students are still not doing well.
“Only 41.8 per cent of students in Grade 10 of the applied level attained the
16 credits towards the 30 needed for a diploma,” the study says. Seventy five
per cent of the academic or university-bound students were successful in their
studies.
So you want to know why our students are not measuring up?
No, they are not mentally inferior to our neighbours in the Maritimes and West
Coast.
The Ontario ministry of education, and our own London boards
of education have embraced the semester system. If you remember I wrote a
column – The test results are in, the semester system fails. In a Canadian-wide
test for 13 - 16-year olds, students in the full-year courses did much better
then those in the semester schools.
Except for Central Secondary and Medway Collegiate, which
have two-day timetables for three terms, the rest of the secondary programming
revolves around semesters – students have the same four classes of 70 minutes a
day for five months. The time goes so quickly; student’s who are failing their
mid-terms have little opportunity to recover in the few remaining weeks before
their final exams. Dare to check out the drop-out or failure rates of secondary
semestered schools vs. the two-day programs?
Twelve month gaps for classes in math, English or music can
sure play havoc with one’s success.
Interesting that the students who attend Lakefield, Upper
Canada, Ridley and Appleby Colleges have three terms to learn. The parents pay
fees for tuition and room and board in the $35,000 - $46,500 range.
The difference in costs between the two-day and semesters is
made up of the cost of textbooks. A couple of years ago the Avon Maitland
School Board adopted the two-day system and placed first in the province in
math testing. The director, Lorne Rachlis, left and the board reverted to the
semester program. What a shame.
We all want what is in the best interest for our children. I
am looking for educators to adopt the two-day cycle-three term timetable.
Students need 10 months to mature and comprehend. We can’t afford to have 30
per cent of our students not graduate from high school.
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