If you have children or grandchildren at school you have most likely heard of EQAO testing.
The EQAO (Education Quality and Accountability Office) is an independent agency that creates and administers large-scale assessments to measure Ontario students’ achievement in reading, writing and math at key stages of their education. The tests are written in the following grades:
- Grade 3, Primary Division (reading, writing and math)
- Grade 6, Junior Division (reading, writing and math)
- Grade 9 Math
- Grade 10, Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT)
Data from EQAO is a key component in helping school board’s see the larger picture, which includes report card data, classroom assessments, along with teacher and student perceptual data. These findings are collectively used to tell us how we’re doing at the Board, school and classroom level.
Today, the Provincial and local EQAO results for all key assessment stages have been released.
Avon Maitland EQAO Results At-a-Glance
The Avon Maitland District School Board trends continue to mirror provincial gains in literacy in both the Primary and Junior Assessments of Reading and Writing (EQAO).
Grade 3 (Primary) and Grade 6 (Junior)
Over the past 5 years, the AMDSB scores in Junior (Grade 6) Reading have steadily improved. On the 2017-2018 assessment, Junior Reading scores now show that 82% of Avon Maitland students have met or exceeded the standard. Junior Writing scores have improved by 5 percentage points over the previous year, with 79% of our Junior students meeting or exceeding the provincial standard in the latest assessment.
Our Primary students continued on their upward trajectory in Reading, with 73% of our students meeting or exceeding the provincial standard in Reading, a 4 point gain over last year. Writing scores declined one percentage point, with 69% of students meeting or exceeding the provincial standard.
Avon Maitland’s achievement in Mathematics in both the Primary and Junior Divisions have increased. Primary Mathematics has improved by 3 percentage points, with 64% of students meeting or exceeding the provincial standard. In the Junior Division, scores improved 2 percentage points with 49% of students meeting or exceeding the standard.
Grade 9 Math
In the Provincial Assessment of Grade 9 Mathematics, the Avon Maitland District School Board continues to outperform the province in the Applied stream. Of the students taking Applied Mathematics, 59% met or exceeded the standard, compared to 45% provincially. Of the students enrolled in Academic Mathematics, 82% met or exceeded the standard, compared to 84% provincially. Furthermore, scores improved in Applied Mathematics, with an increase of 8% (up from 51% in 2017) in the Applied stream, and scores stayed the same in the Academic stream.
Grade 10, Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT)
On the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT), the AMDSB saw a 5% decline from the 2017 results, with 71% of students meeting or exceeding the standard.
While the downward trend in the OSSLT scores, at both the board level and provincially, is disappointing, it is somewhat tempered by the fact that a large majority of students continue to be successful on the OSSLT.
Primary and Junior Mathematics, both provincially and locally, is now a higher priority in improvement planning at the provincial, board and school levels. Data from EQAO is a key component in the larger assessment picture, which includes report card data and classroom assessments, along with teacher and student perceptual data. These are used to inform our learning at the system, school and classroom levels. Staff analyze the data for each school and for individual students and the analysis contributes to adjustments in board and school improvement planning. School staff will be taking a more in-depth look at the data on the PD day scheduled for September 28th, 2018, in order to further refine their school learning plans.
The purpose of any assessment, whether large scale like the EQAO provincial assessments, or small in-the-moment classroom tasks, is to gather information for the purposes of responding to and meeting student learning needs. Educators examine data, form hypotheses, and draw conclusions about those factors that are having a positive impact on student learning and achievement, and where improvements need to be made. The Avon Maitland District School Board is committed to continuous improvement for all learners; we invest time, energy and resources into professional learning for our educators that is time-tested and grounded in research, and in turn those educators draw upon that training to provide meaningful learning experiences for students. As the 2018-2019 school year begins, we will continue to focus on improving teaching and learning in Primary and Junior Mathematics, and Intermediate and Senior Literacy, while working to sustain the gains made over the past several years.
For a more in-depth look at the EQAO results please visit the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) website.