Math scores continue to slip across the province, a trend which is visible within the local public school board.
This comes as Education Quality and Accountability Office, or EQAO, provincial reading, writing, and math assessment results have been released for the 2016/2017 school year.
In the Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board, 48 per cent of grade three students met provincial math standards, down three per cent from the year before. The same decline can be seen in local grade six students, with only 33 per cent at the provincial level.
When it comes to high school math results for the Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board, 79 per cent of students in the academic level met provincial goals. However, only 48 per cent of applied math students met provincial targets. The board says a continued focus on math to address achievement gaps is a priority both locally and provincially.
Meanwhile in the Algonquin & Lakeshore Catholic District School, math scores seem to be going up. Fifty-nine per cent of grade three students met or surpassed provincial math standards,up two per cent from last year’s results. In grade six, 45 per cent met these targets, which is a one per cent increase from the year before. The board says it will continue to focus on its Renewed Math Strategy, which includes working directly with school leaders and math learning partners in all its elementary schools.
Provincially, 62 per cent of grade three student met math standards, while only half of grade six students did. In high school, 83 per cent of academic math students met these provincial goals, while only 44 per cent were able to at the applied level.
However, reading and writing results in the public board were consistent with, or higher than, last year’s. Around 60 per cent of grade three students met or exceeded provincial reading and writing standards. Meanwhile, 70 per cent of grade six students students met provincial reading standards, while 63 per cent did so in writing. The board says a continued focus on literacy, building on the successes in elementary grades, is needed to ensure that students meet graduation requirements.
Reading and writing scores for students in the Catholic board either stayed consistent, or rose slightly. Sixty-eight per cent of grade three students met or exceeded provincial reading standards, while 72 hit writing targets. In grade six, around 80 per cent of students met or exceeded reading and writing standards. The board says it is pleased with these positive trends in reading and writing.
In reading and writing, around 74 per cent of Ontario’s grade three students met provincial standards, while about 80 per cent did so in grade six.
HPEDSB also says more of its high school students took part in the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test this year. Ninety-one per cent of students took the test, and 68 per cent were successful. Ninety-three per cent of the province’s high school students took part in the OSSLT, and 81 per cent were successful.