Daniel MacIsaac
Northern News Services

Inuvik (Nov 26/99) - Samuel Hearne principal Carson Atkinson had words of warning for parents who attended a meeting with teachers in the high school gym last Wednesday night.

The school had just issued report cards for its 450 students, and besides containing grades, the reports included results of the national Canadian Achievement Test the students had written in September.

"The results may shock you," he said. "They shocked us a bit."

Atkinson took the group of approximately 50 parents through the results grade by grade, from 7 to 12. He showed parents where the students ranked in relation to the national grade-equivalents determined by the testing results.

While the numbers showed that some individual students ranked about the national average, in general, every grade at the school fell below the average in terms of actual grade level. Atkinson was quick to place the results in context.

"Does that mean it's hopeless in terms of improving grade-level equivalents?" he asked. "Of course not, but it takes time to reach those levels."

Atkinson, along with vice-principal Geoff Buerger, who are both new to the school, said this was the first time the students had ever written a national exam and that the effort followed the recommendation of the Beaufort Delta Education Council.

"I think there's been a concern by the board whether the school's giving honest, up-front information," he said. "I think we've given information about how the kids are doing all along, but some people have said we're not giving norm-based results ... well, these results are for all of Canada."

Atkinson and Buerger also pointed out that the test doesn't take Northern cultural and socio-economic considerations into account. The results, they said, would improve next year even simply because the students would have experience in sitting through the full-day, formatted exam.

They added that because the results were broken into reading, spelling, language, study skills and math, students will now better understand their strengths and weaknesses and teachers would have more specific guidance in designing lessons.

Atkinson said the results presentation was specifically intended to prevent students and parents from becoming discouraged. It also assured them that the school will continue to lobby for additional resources and seek additional staff. Several parents did ask questions, and Floyd Roland spoke of the need for more parents to get involved.

"The school can have an impact but can't replace factors that may come if the families and the community work with us," said Atkinson, agreeing with Roland.

Buerger added that another way parents can help is by coming out to a meeting scheduled for tonight at the Midnight Sun Recreation Complex to discuss a growth plan for Samuel Hearne.