EQAO regional results released: reading and writing: up; math: down
Posted Sep 17, 2014 03:16:26 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Reading and writing are fine, but a subtraction in mathematics.
The Waterloo Region District School Board released its E-Q-A-O testing results today for students in Grade 3 and 6.
Results for both grades continue to get better in reading and writing, but the same cannot be said when it comes to multiplication and division.
Grade 3 math results increased by 1% over last year, but Grade 6 results fell 4% compared to 2013
Mathematics is identified in the 2014-2015 Board Improvement Plan for Student Achievement (BIPSA) as an area of focus.
“We’re developing, sort of some strategies and so on to look at our practices in mathematics and to look at improving those results over time,” says Scott Miller, Assistant (to) Superintendent – Learning Services.
He adds boys have been another specified group to focus their attention.
“Over the past five years, there have been increases in the boys results in both reading and writing at both the Grade 3 and 6 level,” says Miller. “So we are actually closing that gap between boys and girls.”
Miller reminds people, while the results are important; they’re just a small piece of its assessment data.
“It is results we certainly look at and analyze, but it’s one small part of the other things we do, in making decision to inform, how we’re going to support our staff and how wer4e going to look at improving student learning.” says Miller.
Annie Kidder, from People for Education, says the results allow for parents to ask question, but people need to look at the bigger picture.
“Now you can go to your school, and go, ‘Okay, it seems as if our school is doing really well in this area, and struggling a bit in this area, can you tell me why?'”, says Kidder.
The group, ‘People for Education’ is worried about a narrowing of the definition of education.
“We’ve embarked on a new project, called ‘Measuring What Matters'”, says Kidder. “We actually have a survey out right now, anybody can do online, that asks, ‘What else do you think we should be measuring?’ and, ‘What other goals should we be setting in education.”
