Literacy test to be completed on paper

The next Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) in March 2017 will be administered in paper format only.

Originally, Education Quality and Accountability Office’s (EQAO) intention was to deliver the March 2017 OSSLT online and provide a back-up paper version of the assessment.

However, in October an online OSSLT trial was cancelled due to technical disruptions caused by a cyber attack.

Officials say that because the EQAO has not yet successfully completed a large-scale trial of its system, and given the considerable frustration and anxiety that resulted from the cyber attack, they feel it would be irresponsible to put students at risk of any further issues without having completed a successful large-scale online trial.

Investigations into the cyber attack are ongoing and these will lead to recommendations with respect to additional security measures.

There is no timeline at present for when EQAO will move to online assessments.

“While we are pressing ‘pause’ on EQAO’s move toward online assessments, we are by no means hitting ‘stop,’” said Dr. Richard Jones, interim CEO at EQAO, in a press release.

“In the days following the cyber attack in October, we heard from hundreds of members of Ontario’s education community about the online OSSLT and we will take the time required to continue those discussions, so that we can integrate feedback into our system design. ”

Anyone who wishes to provide suggestions can contact the EQAO directly.