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8 bd 3 KATHY YANCHUS 1 kyanchus@metroland.com Results from the 2021/ 2022 EQAO (Education > Quality and Accountabili- 3 ty Office) testing — the first in three years — 2 showed that students from i the Halton District School (HDSB) _ scored above the provincial aver- age in all areas. results, presented by superintendent of edu- cation Nick Frankovich to HDSB trustees at the regu- lar meeting of the board on Dec. 14, are as follows: + Grade 3 students per- formed nearly nine per cent better in math than the provincial average: 67.5 per cent versus 59 per cent, respectively. Broken down by gender, 70 per cent of Grade 3 males achieved level 3 (meets provincial standards) or 4 (exceeds provincial standards), and 64 per cent of Grade 3 fe- males achieved level 3 or 4. The percentage of Grade3 reading s scores that led the Beaver | Thursday, December 29, 2022 | met or ext pro- vane exeeene was 82.3 compared to the ent ct provincial average of 73.2 per cent, with 78 per cent of Grade 3 males and 86 per cent of Grade 3 females reaching levels 3 or 4. » Grade 8 writing results showed 73 per cent of stu- dents reaching levels 3 or 4 compared to the provincial (©); OAKVILLE insidehalton.com average of 64.9, with 68 per cent of Grade 3 males and 80 per cent of Grade 3 fe- males reaching top levels. mal a gender discrepancy consistent with provincial figur said Frankovich. A total of 62 per cent of Grade6 males reached a level 3 or iy and 55 per cent of Gra fe- males achieved the same levels, both results 11 per nt higher than the pro- vincial average. + Over 91 per cent of Grade 6 reading scores topped the provincial aver- age, with 89 per cent of Grade 6 ‘alee achieving level 3 or 4 while 94 per cent of Grade 6 females achieved level 3 or 4. rade 6 writing scores showed over 90 per cent of students achieving at level 3 or 4, with over 87 per cent of males reaching level 3 or 4 and 94 per cent of female students achiev- ing levels 3 + In Grade 9 math, stu- dents nine per cent better than the provin- cial average, with over 61 per cent meeting the pro- vincial standard. For first- time eligible students tak- ing the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT), 89 per cent achieved the provincial Graham Paine/Metroland HDSB director of education Curtis Ennis said he is "extremely proud" of students for their EQAO results after four years of disrupted learning and a new math curriculum. standard, seven per cent better than the province, and for students previous- ly eligible for the OSSLT, 93 per cent achieved the pro- vincial standard, eight per cent better than the provin- cial average. Frankovich pointed out that although there has been no EQAO data for three years, the board com- pared the most recent re- sults with those ot 2018 "and in our maintained or ea ted in allareas ss of EQAO in the ju- nior "We “also maintained or improved in reading ant math for our primary an sion students, with a slight decrease i in writing, which in line with what we noticed across the prov- He also noted that 2021/ 2022 was the first bse? ofan e-assessment latform, which came with imple- mentation challenges, the first EQAO assessment since the new math curric- ulum was introduced in Burlington trustee Amy Collard expressed concern about the math scores. “The numbers continue to show that either {he ‘lest is not indicative of th riculum oon that theres somethin: lum that ‘the students are just not able to gather,” said Collai Oalyille ‘trustee Tanya Rocha wondered if the HDSB was reaching out to other boards with "better scores" to discover best practices that could poten- PUBLIC BOARD STUDENTS MAINTAIN OR IMPROVE EQAO RESULTS ally has been, and we know. We ask the same question about whether or not this is something that is funda- mentally and foundation- ally inherently wrong with the assessment itself." ea ane due to the pandemic, Ennis said the board is "extremely proud of our students and what they have done, and we continue to work towards getting better each and ev- ery year." Oakville trustee Joanna whether eleme! school math specialists should be considered. m al is to make all teachers math specialists," said Frankovich, adding that although the HDSB produced overall impres- sive scores, "we don't spend a lot of time celebrating. tay be implemented by We look at the work that HDSB. needs to be done." “a don't believe there is a Associate director Tina public board in Ontario Salmini said the board not that’ 's doing better than we _ only holds in-house profes- are," count intered Curtis En- sional development in nis, HD! ofedu- ics, but subsidiz. cation. addit math qualifi- “We have done just as cations ‘ton coachers well or even better than we've ever done and so we are on the right track and we continue to look at ways to improve.” "Grade 6 math is always a problem," added Ennis, “his istorically and perpetu- EM Col arate @olllala| ay Annual New Year's Levee “That's beena big: ‘part of our math plan," said Salmi- ni. EQAO results are "to me, but a small piece to show the success of our school board," said board chair Margo Shuttleworth. Please join Mayor Rob Burton and Members of Council at the Annual New Year's Levee to celebrate the new year ahead. The event will feature brief remarks from Mayor Rob Burton as well as light refreshments and musical entertainment.