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York Region District School Board

Provincial Assessments

EQAO Grade 3 Reading, Writing and Mathematics

In May and June of 2023 Students in Grades 3 and 6 participated in the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) Assessments of Reading, Writing, and Mathematics.  These assessments act as a snapshot to indicate if students met curriculum expectations in reading, writing and mathematics. This is the second year of the computer-based adaptive assessment.  These assessments contain both multiple choice questions and written components. 

Overall student performance is reported using a four-level scale aligned with the four achievement levels in The Ontario Curriculum and Ontario Student Report Card.

The results are reported for fully participating students achieving Levels 3 and 4 (the provincial standard) on the Grade 3 and 6 assessments.

YRDSB fully participating Grade 3 Students were:

  • 4.5 percentage points higher in Reading than all Students in the Province (77.1% compared to 72.6%)

  • 7.2 percentage points higher in Writing than all Students in the Province (72.7% compared to 65.5%)

  • 11 percentage points higher in Mathematics than all Students in the Province (70.7% compared to 59.7%)

YRDSB fully participating Grade 6 Students were:

  • 4.5 percentage points higher in Reading than all Students in the Province (88.2% compared to 83.7%)

  • 6.4 percentage points higher in Writing than all Students in the Province (90.0% compared to 83.6%)

  • 14.3 percentage points higher in Mathematics than all Students in the Province (63.8% compared to 49.5%)

The EQAO Grade 9 Assessment of Mathematics tests the math skills students are expected to have learned by the end of the grade 9 mathematics course.

The 2022-2023 school year was the second year of the computer adaptive Grade 9 Assessment of Mathematics based on the grade 9 De-Streamed Mathematics curriculum. These computer adaptive assessments differ from previous paper-based assessments used prior to 2021. 

YRDSB fully participating Grade 9 Students were:

  • 16.8 percentage points higher in Mathematics than all Students in the Province (70.5% compared to 53.7%)

Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test

The Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) measures whether students met the provincial standard for literacy across all subjects up to the end of Grade 9. Successful completion of the literacy test is one of the requirements to earn an Ontario Secondary School Diploma.  In the 2022-2023 school year, over 11000 students in YRDSB participated in the EQAO Ontario Secondary School Literacy Assessment.  This was the second year of the computer adaptive assessment. These computer adaptive assessments differ from previous paper-based assessments used prior to 2021. 

 

YRDSB Fully Participating First-Time Eligible Students were:

  • 8.1 percentage points higher than all Students in the Province (92.8% compared to 84.7%)

YRDSB Previously Eligible Students were:

  • 5.2 percentage points higher than all Students in the Province (68.1% compared to 62.9%)

 

Notes and Considerations

Considerations: This is the second year of the new online digitized assessments which differ significantly from assessments prior to the 2021-2022 school year.  EQAO has indicated that “A different EQAO assessment model necessitates new baselines for assessment results, meaning that new trendlines were set in 2021-2022”.  In other words, the results from 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 should not be compared to previous assessment years as these results are not comparable.  Please consider:  

  • In response to the pandemic, students in the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years did not participate in any of the EQAO assessments. Prior to 2019, all EQAO assessments were written using paper-and-pencil assessments.  
  • Starting in 2021-2022, students in all assessments did so using online computer based adaptive assessments. These new assessments have different cognitive loads and the adaptive nature of the assessments means that students may have different experiences.  
  • The new adaptive assessments require students to have access to computer devices for the assessment.  This approach also provided schools a larger window during which students could participate.  Consequently, some students have engaged in the assessment several weeks apart.
  • The province introduced a new Elementary Mathematics Curriculum in 2020-2021 and used this curriculum to anchor assessments in the Grade 3 and 6 Mathematics assessments. 
  • The province introduced a new Grade 9 De-streamed Mathematics Curriculum for Grade 9 students in 2021-2022 and used this curriculum for the Grade 9 Mathematics Assessment.  
  • Prior to 2020, students in Grade 9 mathematics either participated in the Grade 9 EQAO Academic Mathematics Assessment or the Grade 9 EQAO Applied Mathematics Assessment depending on their Grade 9 Course.  With the implementation of the new Mathematics curriculum, all students in the Grade 9 De-streamed Mathematics course participated in the same EQAO Assessment.  

EQAO’s results provides Boards, schools and families with information about how our schools are supporting students.

 

Highlights of the Provincial Results

 

Board and School Results 

EQAO’s new Interactive EQAO Dashboard provides access to data on students’ EQAO achievement and learning perceptions from across the province, board and schools.