MORRISBURG – Morrisburg Public School lead all four provincially-funded schools in South Dundas with year-over-year improvements to provincial education scores as reported by the Education Quality and Accountability Office. The EQAO released its annual report on provincial testing September 25th.
MPS saw a 17 per cent increase in Grade 3 reading levels to 63 percent of students reaching or exceeding the provincial standards. That same cohort had a four per cent increase in writing levels (60 per cent). Grade 3 students tested also had a four per cent increase in math, but the school still falls well below the provincial average with just 37 per cent of Grade 3 students meeting provincial standards.
Grade 6 scores improved by seven per cent in reading (73 per cent overall), and by three per cent in writing (71 per cent). Grade 6 math scores declined by one per cent to 31 per cent of students at or above provincial standards.
Over at Iroquois Public School, testing results for Grade 3 students reading declined one per cent to 69 per cent, but writing results increased by six per cent to 68 per cent of students at or above provincial standard. Forty-six per cent of students at that grade met or exceeded the provincial standard for math, a three per cent increase.
Grade 6 scores for reading, writing, and math all declined. Reading levels dropped by two per cent to 67 per cent, while writing and math scores each saw a five per cent drop, to 64 and 18 per cent respectively.
Scores at St. Mary-St. Cecilia Catholic School declined as well. In Grade 3 testing, there was a one per cent drop in reading levels to 87 per cent, an eight per cent decline in writing to 85 per cent, and an 11 per cent decline in math, to 71 per cent.
Grade 6 students tested at the school had two per cent increases each in reading (86 per cent) and writing (83 per cent). However math continued to be an issue with results decreasing 10 per cent to 49 per cent of students at or above provincial standard.
Grade 9 students tested at Seaway District High School had no improvement in the Applied-Level Math course with 55 per cent of those tested meeting or exceeding the provincial standard. For Academic-Level math, 94 per cent of students met or exceeded provincial standards, a nine per cent increase over the previous year. That increase did not translate to Grade 10 Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test numbers where there was a one per cent decline in those passing the test. That number dropped to 61 per cent. A student is required to pass the OSSLT to graduate secondary school. A minimum passing grade on the test is 75 per cent.
Overall testing numbers for Grade 3 students in the Upper Canada District School Board saw a one per cent improvement in reading scores (70 per cent), but a three per cent decline in writing scores (67 per cent). Math scores saw a one per cent drop to 52 per cent. Reading (79 per cent) and Writing (76 per cent) for Grade 6 students were unchanged from last year while Math results declined by one per cent to 38 per cent. Grade 9 students also had a one per cent decrease in Applied-Level Math to 39 per cent; Academic Math increased by one per cent to 77 per cent. Grade 10 OSSLT results were unchanged from last year. Seventy-two per cent of students were at or above provincial standards.
“We are encouraged by the modest gains made by our students in specific areas of the 2018-2019 provincial assessment,” said UCDSB director of education Stephen Sliwa. “We know that our students give their very best effort when addressing any learning activity and/or assessment task while at school – including the EQAO assessment.”
Over at the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario, board wide had a two per cent increase in Grade 3 reading (78 per cent), a one per cent drop in writing (78 per cent), and a two per cent decline in math (59 per cent). There was a one per cent drop in Grade 6 reading (81 per cent) and writing (79 per cent) scores, and a five per cent drop in math (40 per cent). Grade 9 applied math scores continued its three-year downward trend, dropping one per cent to 51 per cent. Academic math scores increased by one per cent to 87 per cent. Grade 10 OSSLT scores were unchanged at 81 per cent.
“The CDSBEO continues to work collaboratively to support student achievement through Ministry objectives and initiatives such as the Focusing on the Fundamentals of Math Strategy,” said Amber Laberge with the CDSBEO. “Though there has been a decline in some areas, most specifically in junior math scores, the Board continues to assess specific needs and help schools create individualized plans to address these needs, while providing resources and supports to improve achievement outcomes.”
EQAO testing is completed as mandated by the Ministry of Education. Schools in each of the four publicly funded school systems are required to take part in the testing each year. Private schools are exempt from testing as they do not receive provincial funding.
