EQAO, Educational Quality and Accountability Office, is an arm’s length government agency that contributes to the quality and accountability of Ontario’s publicly funded education system for K-12 and post-secondary institutions. The tests administered by EQAO are used to assess students’ core skills in English reading, writing, and mathematics at key points in their education journey, namely in grade 3, grade 6, grade 9. The tests’ results are shared with a wide range of stakeholders and are used for different purposes, including being used by schools and school boards to make student recommendations for gifted program.
The chart below is an EQAO Results Overview published by Halton District School Board to highlight the high quality of education of the school board. However, if we take a closer look, we can see the overall grade average is quite low. In fact, they are much lower than what we expected if we compare them with the marks from the school report cards. If my child in grade 3 brought home a report card with marks all in the 70’s or my child in grade 6 had math mark under 60, I would be genuinely concerned and wanting to know why.
I would be asking questions like “Are the schools teaching enough?,” “Are the EQAO tests too hard?,” “What needs to be done to support my child?” etc. All these questions are fair to ask. Here are the main reasons why the EQAO test scores are so low.
Firstly, the timing of the EQAO tests is quite peculiar. The tests are often administered at the middle of second semester in April or May, although this does not seem to be a problem, but schools still have two or more than two months for students to finish their grade, then students may be tested for something they have not had a chance to learn yet. EQAO tests not only assumed students already have full knowledge of their grade level completed, but also stretched the difficulty level a little bit into the next grade because in Ontario curriculum, two adjacent grades such as grade 3 and 4 share a lot of learning objectives. Therefore, it is not necessarily wrong to include some of the grade 4 learning objectives in a grade 3 EQAO test because they were included in the grade 3 curriculum as well.
However, when EQAO test results is used as a major reference point for deciding which students are to be recommended for gifted programs, it may not be all that fair to all students. It is a bit hard for students who solely rely on their school learnings, but learning does not have to stop outside school campus. Numerous studies have shown that out-of-school learning, including academic camps, enrichment classes, or private lessons, can increase the likelihood of your child’s academic success. “A Benjamin Bloom study shows that 6 months of private tutoring improves grades by 2 standard deviations. That is the equivalent of going from the 50th percentile in the class to the 98th. This shows just how much of an impact private tutoring has on your child’s progress compared to relying solely on school.” (Harms, 2019)
At OAKLearning, students take the MyPath courses which use Adaptive Assessments to assess what level they stand academically, and what core skill sets they need improvement. If you would like to have more information on how MyPath works to help your child achieve more academically, you can also email us at info@oaklearningcenter.com for more information and to book an assessment for your child.
References
Harms, K. (2019, July 29). The top 10 benefits of private tutoring. Parent Corner Blog. Retrieved October 1, 2021, from https://www.tutorean.co.uk/studycorner/the-top-10-benefits-of-private-tutoring/