have compared HGS Grade 10 history essays with her 1st and 2nd year Queen's History students. It was hard to tell them apart. The bottom line: Shocking differences appear when you compare standards. Yes, it's driven by SES factors, but there is much more at work because scholarship students thrive as well and private schools rack up much higher numbers of IB graduates. Across NA, private schools average some 30 IB diplomas, while public schools average 18 to 20 per school. "My own daughter and I have compared HGS Grade 10 history essays with her 1st and 2nd year Queen's History students. It was hard to tell them apart." As my youngest and I were driving to town, she was chattering away, giving me the latest in what is happening in English. The teacher(s) are no longer following the curriculum, except in novels, and the over all arching goal is to improved their writing skills for the public exams, and more importantly for post-secondary. What has been promise to the students, that by the end of grade 12, your writing skills will be in the Bs or higher when writing essays at the post-secondary. All work is done in the class, and put in the folders for the teacher to review. The teacher reviews it, looking for the strengths and weaknesses of the students. As usual, my child displays different strengths, that are the weaknesses of the majority of students. And her weaknesses, are only shared by a few other