By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Tuesday August 3, 2013

Of Apps and Declining EQAO Scores

A digital revolution is on the rise at Hamilton’s inner city schools.

Starting this September, the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board will be distributing hundreds of iPads to Grade 4, 5 and 6 classrooms at seven schools — Adelaide Hoodless, A.M. Cunningham, Cathy Wever, Dr. Davey, Prince of Wales, Memorial and Queen Victoria.

The program will then expand until 2016, when every student in Grades 4 through 12 at those schools, as well as the new central Hamilton high school, will be outfitted with their own, personal tablets.

“We know that many of the kids in these schools from a socioeconomic point of view face significance challenges,” said education director John Malloy. “We want them to become the leaders of the entire board.” (Source: The Hamilton Spectator)

Ontario’s education minister says elementary school teachers may need more professional development, after test results show that their students are struggling with math skills.

The Education Quality and Accountability Office released results on Wednesday that suggest almost one in five Grade 6 students do not meet the provincial math standard, even after meeting the standard in Grade 3.

Minister Liz Sandals said many elementary teachers come from an arts background and aren’t as comfortable teaching math compared to reading or writing. (Source: The London Free Press)

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This cartoon was featured in a gallery of Editorial Cartoons in the Yahoo! Canada News for September 2013. Here it is on Yahoo News’ Facebook page.

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