VOL. 4 NO. 3
March 2016
P1
Literacy Assignments Pass the Test
The results are in: Literacy assignments are significantly boosting OSSLT success rates.
Photo: Valiant Chan
by DANIEL PEKAR
I
n the past few years, the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) has become a contentious topic at Marc Garneau. This is primarily due to the mandatory news reports and opinion paragraphs that students have to write in all of their courses. Ever since they were introduced two years ago, the assignments have been unpopular amongst staff and students alike. Many argue that the assignments are not helping their English skills, and are rather promoting a useless, mechanical method of writing. Students often complete the assignments sarcastically (guilty as charged), or simply do not complete them at all. The point of these assignments is to improve Marc Garneau’s OSSLT scores, which were on the decline in previous years. The assignments aim to prepare students by allowing them to practice the type of writing required on the test itself. If this program helps more students pass the OSSLT, it is deemed successful. So, are the numbers adding up? Are Marc Garneau students performing better on the test? EQAO offers year by year statistics for each school on its website so that people can see how schools are performing. The first statistic compares the student results from Grade
6 EQAO to the Grade 10 OSSLT; whether they maintained the provincial standard, rose to it, dropped from it, or never met it at all. For reading, the average percentage of MGCI students who maintained the standard or rose above the standard before the assignments were introduced was 74.5%. Once they were implemented, the percentage of students who achieved the standard rose to 82%. Writing follows a similar story. Before the assignments, 74.5% met the standard. After the assignments, this number jumped to 82%. Evidently, more students were able to either keep their success, or improve their abilities to achieve success. Looking at the specific statistics per year for first time fully participating students (students that attempted and were not deferred or absent), we see a dramatic increase in the percentage that passed. The passing percentage of students rose from an average of 74.3% before the assignments, to 80% afterwards. In 2014, 82% of students passed, the highest percentage in nine years. Only 78% of students passed in 2015; however this may have been due to the fact that many more students were not in the academic stream in 2015. Only 62% of students were in the academic English stream in 2015, compared to
70.5% of students in the previous four years. Evidently, a majority of first-time, fully participating students are benefiting from this program. Another important group to look into is the students who have previously attempted the OSSLT and are writing it again. In the years prior to the introduction of the assignments, the percentage of students who were successful was 39%. In the last two years, that percentage increased to 49%, a significant amount. Even looking at students who passed the OSSLC, a supplementary course designed to aid Grade 12 students who have not passed the OSSLT, the pass rate goes from an average of 23%, to 28%. Even with a rough statistical analysis, it is clear that this literacy program is helping students. It is not only aiding those students that are struggling, but it is also benefitting those who are writing it for the first time. There may be skeptics attributing the boost in student performance to a plausible decline in difficulty of the OSSLT over the last two years. Rest assured, the OSSLT has not gotten any easier. See LITERACY on P5
HOSA: MGCI Goes Medical by MARZAN HAMID
T
his year, Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) Canada held their second annual Spring Leadership Conference on 3 March to 4 March at the Hilton Hotel and the University of Toronto Exam Centre. Approximately 1,100 ambitious students from all across Canada attended the event, filling the streets of Toronto’s financial district with high school students clad in business-formal clothing.
Just prior to her event, Hanlin Cheng, a Grade 9 student who participated in the Biomedical Debate event, said that “I’m really excited for this year’s HOSA.” With over 20 health-care related events and up to 260 students competing per event, HOSA Canada’s attendees were required to demonstrate their diversity of talents. See HOSA on P3
Second Semester SAC Positions by JULIE XIAO
O
n Tuesday, 8 March, the Student Activity Council (SAC) welcomed 5 new semester representatives onto the team: four semester members, and a new Spirit Convener.
Photos: Valiant Chan
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Semester representatives are responsible for helping the six non-semester members with upcoming projects and events, increasing productivity, and spreading awareness about SAC activities. The Spirit Convener is responsible for organizing school-wide events to increase spirit and student involvement in the school. The new members of SAC are listed below. Grade 9 Rep - Saima Zafar Grade 10 Rep - Lisa Wang Grade 11 Rep - Fariha Haleem Grade 12 Rep - Fatima Ghummen Spirit Convener - Arani Kulamurugan ■
The Reckoner is now uploading announcements daily on our website. Get school updates at thereckoner.ca.
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Infographic: Valiant Chan