Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 23/01) - Final marks for Grade 12 students at Sir John Franklin high school are a considerable improvement over last year's.

Assistant superintendent Bruce Janzen made the announcement at the Yellowknife Education District No. 1 school board meeting on Nov. 13.

Janzen made note of the district's higher diploma examination average for English 30 students over other public schools following the Alberta curriculum.

Chairman Dan Schofield commended Sir John's English department for the improved scores, even though the difference between Yelllowknife and Alberta's examination results was almost imperceptible.

Sir John's English 30 students scored a 66.6 per cent average on the exams, while the Alberta average stood at 66.4 per cent.

Nonetheless, the overall final marks for 2000-2001 were significantly better than in previous years.

Janzen did not supply other diploma examination results, which are mostly written in January and June, but he did release the final marks and participation rates for the exams.

Final marks are a 50-50 blend between diploma exams and accumulated grade scores in the classroom. These are the grades recorded on Grade 12 students transcripts.

In all categories except for Biology 30, students performed better in 2000-2001 than they did the year before.

The most significant jump occurred in English 30, where course passing rates rose from 86.4 per cent in 2000 to 93.2 per cent in 2001.

The number of students achieving a standard of excellence -- equivalent to getting an A -- was also much higher in English 30 from the previous year. The percentage rose from 4.9 to 21.6 per cent of all participants.

"My guess is that it's just the makeup of a class in a particular year," said Janzen, when asked what he thought was behind the improvement.

"They're our families' hopes and dreams for university."

However, not all the news is glowing. Yellowknife No.1 students consistently performed lower than the Alberta average in all level-30 final marks. Eighty-nine per cent passed Social Studies 30 at Sir John compared with 96 per cent in Alberta overall.

Yet, Janzen was quick to point out that participation rates for Yellowknife No.1 students taking level-30 classes were often much higher than in Alberta -- meaning a higher percentage of students in the province are taking less demanding level-33 courses.

"When you get into these academic courses, you are looking at students trying to get into post-secondary classes," said Janzen. "One of the biggest factors is the personal investment one. There is a big emphasis on GPA."

School board trustees said they are happy with the results and hope they continue to grow.

"The five-year trend continues to climb," said Schofield. "That's a definite good news item."

"I would say there has been quite an approvement, and I'm sure there will be more along the way," said Ann Enge.