County high school students continued their high level of success this year in the annual EQAO literacy test.
Students from the Upper Grand District School Board (84%) and the Wellington Catholic District School Board (86%) had success rates higher than the provincial results (83%) in the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test issued by the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO).
The test, which has been in place for about a decade, measures how well students are meeting basic reading and writing standards at the end of grade nine, as set out in the Ontario curriculum.
“School- and board-level results are an important piece of information about student achievement in school communities across Ontario,” said Brian Desbiens, chairman of EQAO’s board of directors.
“These results are one of the tools educators and system administrators use to help gauge the effectiveness of their instructional programs and identify areas of student learning that still require attention.”
Locally, two of the four public high schools in Wellington and three of the four Catholic schools in Guelph exceeded the provincial mark of 83% this year.
Public high schools
Of the 2,552 Upper Grand District School Board (UGDSB) students who participated fully in the test, 84% were successful.
In Wellington County specifically, the results were similar, with two of four schools slightly above the provincial average and two slightly below.
At Centre Wellington District High School in Fergus, 306 students fully participated in the test, of which 82% were successful (down 4% from 2010).
At Erin District High School in Erin, 135 students fully participated and 87% were successful (up 2%).
At Norwell District Secondary School in Palmerston, 155 students participated fully and 85% were successful (down 3%).
At Wellington Heights Secondary School in Mount Forest, 134 students fully participated and 78% were successful (down 2%).
Catholic high schools
For the Wellington Catholic District School Board (WCDSB), 86% of the 638 students who participated fully were successful.
Results for the Catholic board’s four secondary schools are as follows:
– at Bishop MacDonell Catholic High School, 177 students participated fully, of which 87% were successful (down 1% from 2010);
– Our Lady of Lourdes, 188 students, 88% successful (same as 2010);
– St. James Catholic High School, 267 students, 86% successful (down 1%); and
– St. John Bosco Catholic Alternative Education Program, 14 students, 50% successful.
Officials happy
Bob Borden, chairman of the UGDSB, said in a press release, “We’re very pleased that our achievement levels are remaining high. The results are a reflection of the hard work and efforts of students, and of their teachers.”
He added, “Of course there is always more that can be done. We especially need to support students who did not pass the test the first time, or who have special needs, so that they too can achieve this important milestone.”
Dom DiBartolomeo, Superintendent of Education with the WCDSB, said the EQAO results “are very, very timely” and will help with the board’s “school improvement plans” that are currently underway.
“Our results overall continue to exceed the provincial average,” DiBartolomeo said, adding that does not mean the board will become complacent.
“[The test] provides important information that will help us address any performance gaps … our work is really beginning now.”
Board specifics
Girls traditionally outperform boys, with 87% of UGDSB girls successful the first time they took the test this year – compared with 80% of the boys. At the Catholic board, 89% of the female students were successful, and 83% of the males. The results at both boards, for both sexes, were similar to the provincial averages of 87% for females and 80% for males.
English Language Learners (ELL) at the UGDSB achieved an 81% pass rate, which far exceeded the provincial result of 68%. There were no results for such students at the Catholic board.
The success rate for students with special needs was 48% at the UGDSB and 52% at the WCDSB. The provincial rate was 52%.
Upper Grand students enrolled in the academic program had a 97% pass rate, compared to 95% province-wide. Catholic board students in the academic program also had a 97% success rate.
Public board students at the applied level achieved a 65% success rate, well above the provincial average of 55%. Catholic boards students at the applied level succeeded at a rate of 55%.
UGDSB students in locally developed courses had only an 11% rate of success. There were no results in that category for the Catholic board, while the provincial result was 15%.
About the test
Successful completion of the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test, or the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course, is one of the 32 requirements for an Ontario Secondary School Diploma.
Using the test data collected over time, school boards and individual schools can establish ways to help students improve their learning.
“It’s essential for communities to have reliable evidence about the literacy development of students in their local schools,” said Marguerite Jackson, EQAO’s Chief Executive Officer.
“Good evidence enables us all to do better by the students in our charge.”
This week, students who took the 2011 test will receive their individual results. EQAO’s individual student reports include information about each student’s areas of strength and weakness on the literacy test.
Students who are unsuccessful the first time are eligible to write the test again.
Of the students who re-wrote the test this March, 51% were successful in the UGDSB, while 46% were successful in the WCDSB. The the provincial re-take success average is 49%.
For more information on the EQAO test, including categorical results for specific schools, past results and sample questions, visit eqao.com.
