mclennan article ‘misleading’
I find your writer’s portrait of rob mclennan (Oct. 12 ) strangely lacking — if not misleading.
rob mclennan has done a great deal to anger and upset some writers and observers in Ottawa’s literary scene and beyond. All you had to do was either talk to people at the TREE Reading Series (which mclennan still frequents, though his involvement as an organizer ended in 1994) or dig back through some local newspapers.
For instance, a now-defunct local arts tabloid, Metro, had an article in the summer of ‘98 about eight local “celebrities” the paper considered so annoying that it was wished these folks would “go away.” On the same list as Marlen Cowpland and Tom Green was rob mclennan. There was no mention of that in your writer’s rather glowing portrait of the poet.
mclennan also says in the story, “I’ve gotten better coverage in the Toronto Star than any media here.” Really? What about that Arts section front in the Ottawa Citizen on or around March 15, 2000, that covered his first art exhibit? Visual arts critic Paul Gessel touched upon the fact that mclennan has done things to alienate himself from the local arts community in that piece.
True, some of mclennan’s work is interesting, if not very well-constructed; and he has helped struggling writers through venue like his Stanzas series of chapbooks and his small press fair. At the same time, it’s arguable just how much good his small press expo does when it cost budding young writers a jaw-dropping $15 to get a table at an event held in an off-the-beaten path location.
I know mclennan personally, and I’ve heard him say “do your research” on occasion. I would invite your young writer to perhaps take some of that advice to heart before tackling the enigma that is rob mclennan.
Zachary Houle
Bronson Avenue
Change standardized testing
With all the concern about standardized tests for our children, I suggest that the best way for the education ministry to manage it is to be fully transparent: all the questions and answers should be published ahead of time.
This may seem very surprising to everyone. However, there is a catch. The questions published should be voluminous and cover every part of the curriculum. The actual test should be a random subset of these questions ( within topics).
I suggest that five to 10 per cent of the questions should be on the actual test, so the questions generated would be 10 to 20 times the actual number on the test. The student’s test could even be printed by computer with the choice and order randomized in every group of tests in order to avoid any copying between students.
The advantages of this are several. For example, questions could be scrutinized by parents and teachers. Tricky or ambiguous questions are more likely to be identified and fixed ahead of time.
In addition, if the test doesn’t cover the topics according to their importance, this can be discussed and more questions added as necessary.
Teachers would have a better idea of what to cover.
They could use the questions for their own tests, and students would become more familiar with the testing process and language.
Published standardized test questions and answers can help students, teachers, and parents clarify, understand, and influence our curriculum.
Let’s do it!
Tom A. Trottier,
Albert Street