Students are meeting or exceeding provincial standards in most areas, according to a report released by the Education Quality and Accountability Office on Wednesday.
Results reflect assessments of reading, writing and math for Grades 3 and 6 students, and Grade 9 mathematics for 2011-2012.
Students in the Ottawa Catholic School Board scored 5 to 8% higher than the provincial results, while Grade 9 students scored 2 to 4% higher in applied and academic math assessments.
“We’re very pleased and very proud of the work that our teachers are doing in terms of contributing to student success,” said director of education Julian Hanlon.
Almost 8,000 students were tested.
“So our goal from here is to continue to improve and I guess until you hit 100%, there’s always room for improvement,” Hanlon said.
The Ottawa Carleton District School Board also met expectations, scoring 1 to 5 percentage points higher than the province in most areas – except for Grade 3 math and Grade 9 applied math, where they fall 1 to 2 percentage points below.
Results are taken seriously at the system level “in that they feed into our plans for next steps,” said superintendent of curriculum Pino Buffone, adding they’re “very valid and valuable.”
At the school level, it helps track trends for improvement planning.
French students also fared well, although EQAO points out results shouldn’t be compared to their English counterparts since the tests are different.
Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est has bragging rights, achieving top marks in Grade 3 and Grade 6.
“We owe these results to the initiatives fostering improved student performance in our schools,” chairman Andre Ouellette said in a statement.
“It is, among other things, through these initiatives that we remain a leader in education and are recognized for the excellence of our schools. It’s not a coincidence when parents choose our schools to make sure their children will succeed.”
Grade 9 students improved math scores by 3 points.
Meanwhile, Grade 3 students at Conseil des écoles publiques de l’Est de l’Ontario scored one per cent higher in reading and math, falling one per cent below provincial standards in writing.
Grade 6 students scored 1 to 3 points above standards.
A new initiative this year is the publication of a report for each school showing progression from one assessment to the next.
To see school rankings, visit eqao.com
Percentage of students at or above the provincial standard (Levels 3 and 4) on the EQAO assessments of reading, writing, and mathematics.
BOARD READING WRITING MATH
Ottawa-Carleton District School Board
Gr. 3 68 75 70
Gr. 6 79 77 61
Ottawa Catholic School Board
Gr. 3 71 83 74
Gr. 6 80 82 64
Province
Gr. 3 66 76 68
Gr. 6 75 74 58
Gr. 9 MATH: APPLIED ACADEMIC
Ottawa-Carleton District School Board 42 86
Ottawa Catholic School Board 48 86
Province 44 84
Source: Education Quality and Accountability Office
http://www.ottawasun.com/2012/09/12/ottawa-students-make-the-grade-eqao-results-show
Kelly Roche - Storyteller 