EQAO test reveals dismal math scores at Hamilton schools

“Our community is rightly asking some tough questions of this board, and we are asking ourselves those same questions”.

Half of Ontario’s grade 6 students didn’t meet the provincial standards in math, so we took to the streets of Ottawa to test the adults.

2016 Assessments of Reading, Writing and Mathematics for the Primary (Grades 1 – 3) and Junior (Grades 4 – 6) Divisions, the Grade 9 Assessment of Mathematics (Academic and Applied), and the Grade 10 Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT). In math, however, only 34 per cent of students achieved at least Level 3.

Grade 3 and 6: Results across the Board varied by school but the trends showed results in Grade 3 and Grade 6 Reading and Writing are at or approaching provincial standard when compared to the provincial results. Seventy-two per cent of kids reached the standard in reading and 65 per cent met the standard in writing. For Grade 6 students, 77 per cent were at or above the provincial standard for reading, while 74 per cent were for writing.

Educators say poor test results are connected to a weak graduation rate that’s in Ontario’s bottom third.

“I do know we have to do better and that we can do better”, Bryant said. “What we need to do is do things differently, because obviously what we’re doing right now isn’t equating to the results we see”. “We will do this through our new vision and annual plan”. It states: “Waterloo Region is synonymous with education”. Results for students taking Applied or Locally Developed English, she said, indicate ongoing needs in literacy. But they’re not improving at the pace of the rest of the province. The Record calculated local test results by combining board results based on enrolment.

Superintendent Joe Maurice also provided an update on EQAO related developments. “Results tell us our foundation is strong and we are on the right track”.

Public elementary school students can do better. Eighth-grade proficiency scores also rose, with 55 percent of students testing proficient or above in 2016.

Board test results are easier to combine than to compare.

Mary Ann Langlois-Smith, a Grade 6 teacher at St. John Vianney, credits a move towards spending 10 minutes daily in class on basic math operations and partnering with parents for making the school one of the board’s outstanding math performers. So our challenge is finding ways to prepare our students to show their learning when they’re writing these tests. “Professional learning will be intentionally directed to support improved student success”, Portt said.

“We need to focus more in the primary grades on number sense and numeration”, Langlois-Smith said. These tests are different than other methods we use to assess students.

The board intends to hire two data analysts to help dig into evidence, and to monitor how strategies are implemented.

Another big change for schools this year is that high school students will no longer take the End-of-Instruction exams in order to graduate. We will continue to dedicate resources to support increased achievement in mathematics and literacy across the grades.

Speaking from J.R. Wilcox on Wednesday, Education Minister Mitzie Hunter said it was “urgent” that schools and school boards deal with the falling scores.