Atikokan
Progress - September 24, 2007
By M. McKinnon
A long-term focus on literacy is paying off at North Star School. And that was verified last week with the release of the results of the 2006-07 grade three and six testing programs of the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO).
Test results for last year’s grade three and six classes showed a dramatic improvement across the board in reading, writing and mathematics, and were the best yet for North Star School. The students outperformed the provincial average in five out of the six categories (and were within a hair’s breadth in the sixth category). The results earned the school a ‘Success Story’ acknowledgement – one of 18 schools across the province to be honoured – from the EQAO.
“We worked hard, the kids worked hard, the parents worked hard…We’re very excited,” said principal, Sylvia Parker.
Generally speaking, North Star students had been showing steady improvement over the first five years the EQAO tests were conducted, but last year their results were down substantially. In addition to being discouraging, those poor results prompted a fairly intensive review of the school's approach.
"We understand we will have dips in performance [from year-to-year]," said Parker. "But we have to look at this over time; we are trying to make a lasting change. That means staying the course and not getting discouraged when we hit those dips."
The reviews all went well last year - provincial assessors were convinced the school was on the right track. These latest test results are an emphatic endorsement of that assessment.
In addition to support from the district school board for a range of special initiatives the past several years, North Star has gotten increasing involvement from parents.
"We've gotten lots of parent support," said parker. "And we know that makes a huge difference, when parents are actively involved in what their kids are doing in school."