<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://www.clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/94f275f8-1e91-4a42-8811-949f4cc2defe/5F502B81-786E-49A4-8200-887EE19E5268/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=20e95724-47e3-4fa9-94e1-351576f96d36" href="http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=20e95724-47e3-4fa9-94e1-351576f96d36" style="font-size: 11px;">www.canada.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=20e95724-47e3-4fa9-94e1-351576f96d36"><H2>Teachers, ministry battle over skills tests</H2></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=20e95724-47e3-4fa9-94e1-351576f96d36"><H4>Janet Steffenhagen, Vancouver Sun</H4></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=20e95724-47e3-4fa9-94e1-351576f96d36"><SPAN>Published: Monday, May 07, 2007</SPAN></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=20e95724-47e3-4fa9-94e1-351576f96d36"><P>Teachers' unions are urging parents to pull their children from the tests, which are administered provincewide in Grades 4 and 7 to assess basic skills. They say the tests, the 2007 version of which are administered beginning today, don't promote learning and are abused by the Fraser Institute to rank schools.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=20e95724-47e3-4fa9-94e1-351576f96d36"><P>Students may be excused by the school principal only when they have learning disabilities, are new ESL students, are ill or are in the midst of a family emergency, the ministry says.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=20e95724-47e3-4fa9-94e1-351576f96d36"><P>This year, for the first time, principals will have to report all excluded students to the district superintendent, and it's clear long lists won't win praise.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=20e95724-47e3-4fa9-94e1-351576f96d36"><P>"Used properly, the assessments can help to further the dialogue on how the achievement in our districts, and in the education system as a whole, can be advanced," she says in a letter to trustees last week.</P></blockquote><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://www.clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content9.clipmarks.com/images/clip-icon.gif" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=20e95724-47e3-4fa9-94e1-351576f96d36&p=2" href="http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=20e95724-47e3-4fa9-94e1-351576f96d36&p=2" style="font-size: 11px;">www.canada.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=20e95724-47e3-4fa9-94e1-351576f96d36&p=2">results available next fall.</blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/5F502B81-786E-49A4-8200-887EE19E5268/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content6.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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