This article is about how to write an essay. For research validation and all background information, refer to this permanent page. It is based on Chapter six of a book I wrote and is, therefore, copyright material, requiring a citation if used in a paper, book or presentation. Please click on the link immediately below (to read the [...]
Filed under: Education, Society by Sandy
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The McGuinty government’s Ministry of Education is at war with itself. On the one hand, they want provincial standardized test results and school rankings to improve. On the other, they want to increase graduation rates. So, to increase the numbers of students graduating from high school, they have implemented a student “success” strategy — also referred to as [...]
Filed under: Education, Politics by Sandy
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Another violent episode at C.W. Jeffreys Collegiate in north Toronto yesterday. A young student was stabbed. Thankfully, as reported on last night’s Global news, he is going to be okay — but was not cooperating with police — meaning he is scared that whoever did this to him will try again. Yet, the only thing [...]
Filed under: Education, Law & Order, Society by Sandy
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Questions that needs to be asked and answered are: (1) How do teachers’ union collective agreements and the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT) policy impact how efficiently a principal can do his or her job? (2) Does that impact affect the safety and well being of Ontario’s children? Yesterday, Moira MacDonald wrote an interesting column [...]
Filed under: Education by Sandy
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If parents and educators want to stress more of “the basics” in public schools, something is going to have to give because the school day and the school curriculum are just too crowded. It’s odd, really, how people will complain that the education system does not respond to public input and pressure when, in actual fact, [...]
Filed under: Education, Society by Sandy
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There can be power in labels, both positive or negative because labels can predetermine beliefs and expectations about people, a phenomenon that is often referred to as the “pygmalion principle.” While this article is primarily about learning disabilities in a school context (no matter what th learning level), it can also relate to an employment situation and the point that people [...]
Filed under: Education, Society by Sandy
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I received an e-mail from a regular reader yesterday who explained that her daughter had just graduated from high school and was about to start university in September – without the English grammar and spelling abilities one might expect — and wondered how she would survive university without those skills. It was also explained to me that she, the mother, had asked [...]
Filed under: Education, Technology by Sandy
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Given that far too many of Ontario’s school boards’ elected trustees cannot be trusted to manage the public interest regarding board budgets and what goes on in Ontario’s schools, that model should be completely abolished in favour of the New Brunswick model of “School Districts.” Yesterday, for example, Ontario’s Education Minister Kathleen Wynn, had to take over the Toronto [...]
Filed under: Education, Politics by Sandy
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While there are definitely some Toronto parents and public school supporters who agree with the notion of an Africentric program from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12, the speed at which Toronto District School Board (TDSB) trustees and members of its “advisory panel” are putting forward and approving proposals is clearly political. For example, today’s Toronto Star editorial comment states: “Bureaucrats at [...]
Filed under: Education, Politics, Society by Sandy
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Congratulations to the staff and students at Britannia Elementary School on Vancouver’s east side! From a previous school ranking by the Fraser Institute of 2.8 a number of years ago, this year they made in on the honour roll with a 7.5 out of ten. Well done! What an inspiring example of what can happen when everyone [...]
Filed under: Education, Society, Uncategorized by Sandy
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