Secondary school students in the Upper Grand District School Board (UGDSB) are continuing to improve their scores on provincial mathematics assessments, while remaining consistent in literacy scores.
Reports released Sept. 24 state that for the past five years UGDSB students have scored the same as, or within one or two percentage points of, the provincial average.
This year students in Grade 10 eligible to write the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) achieved an 82 per cent success rate – falling just below the provincial average of 83%.
“I’m pleased with the overall results,” said UGDSB chair Mark Bailey. “Upper Grand students are consistently on par with their peers across the province.”
In the academic stream, 96% of students passed, higher than the provincial average. However, students in the applied program continue to receive lower scores than previous years, this time coming in at 53% – slightly above the provincial average of 50%.
“A great many of our students excel at the OSSLT. However, an area of concern is the lower success rate for students in the applied course,” says Bailey. “Literacy is no less important to students who may be on a pathway to a career in a trade or industry. We owe it to the students and they owe it to themselves, to see that they acquire the fundamental skills that are needed to fully participate in society.”
Both academic and applied scores in the Grade 9 Assessment of Mathematics have continued to top the provincial average over the last five years.
Fifty-nine per cent of applied students met or exceeded this year’s Ontario standard of 47%. This is an increase of 7% for UGDSB from 2013 and 11% since 2010. Academic students were 88% successful, above the provincial average of 85%.
“The EQAO results tell us that we’re reducing the gap between students in academic or applied courses in math, but we can do even better,” Bailey said.
Results by school:
– Centre Wellington District High School, math: applied 54%, academic 80%; literacy: 81%;
– Erin District High School, math: applied 58%, academic 93%; literacy: 91%;
– Norwell District High School, math: applied 44%, academic 81%; literacy: 84%;
– Wellington Heights, math: applied 36%, academic 78%; literacy: 75%.
Over the past five years the percentage of students in the Wellington Catholic District School Board (WCDSB) that have met or exceeded the provincial standard on the Grade 9 Assessment of Mathematics, has increased from 81% to 91% in the academic stream and 47% to 56% in applied.
For first time WCDSB writers of the OSSLT, the success rate has increased from 87% to 89%.
