There are two reasons high school students taking a second crack at the provincial literacy test pass it more often in the local Catholic board than elsewhere in Ontario, on average, a local superintendent says.
One of those is there are fewer taking the test, said Scott Johnson, with the St. Clair Catholic District School Board.
“The majority of students that don’t pass the OSSLT (Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test) on their first write, we have conversations with the students and their parents to encourage them to take the Ontario Literacy course instead of rewriting the literacy test again in Grade 11,” he said.
Passing the course means students don’t have to retake the test, he said, noting the board pushes those who fail the barometer of reading and writing for Grade 10s in Ontario to take the course because it’s a better way to shore up their understanding.
“Many of the students who aren’t successful on the literacy test, they need that,” he said.
Those who opt to take the test again instead, freeing up space for another elective, he said, still receive targeted instruction from full-time literacy teachers at both the board’s high schools – one each in Sarnia-Lambton and Chatham-Kent.
That instruction is possible because fewer students are taking the test, and instead opting for the literacy course, Johnson said.
The result – 73 per cent passed in 2017, the latest number via the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) scores.
Provincially, the average is 49 per cent.
About four out of five first-time test writers, at the school board level and province-wide, succeeded last year.
Passing the test or passing the course is a requisite to graduating high school and students can take the test as many times as they like.
The St. Clair board’s achievement rate is a result of the board investing in literacy teachers in high schools, Johnson said.
“Not every school releases a teacher for literacy support.”
Meanwhile, the board also made gains in Grade 9 applied math, where the number meeting the provincial benchmark jumped to 57 per cent, up from 40 per cent a year earlier.
The provincial average is 44 per cent.
“There was ongoing release time last year for teachers of applied mathematics to co-learn with each other how we can change the conditions for learning in the applied math classroom,” Johnson said.
“And we were quite pleased to see that.”
The board is otherwise slightly above the province in most categories, save Grade 6 math, where it and the Lambton Kent District School Board – the local public board – each saw 39 per cent of their students meet the benchmark.
The provincial average in 2017 was 50 per cent.
The public board is slightly below the provincial average in most other categories.
“Of course we’re disappointed in our math scores again because our teachers worked really, really hard last year,” said Taf Lounsbury, elementary education superintendent with the public board.
She’s hoping it’s a matter of time before a provincial focus on problem solving over rote memorization takes effect.
It’s been in place for the last two years and the Grade 6 testing takes into account three years of learning, beginning in Grade 4, she said.
“So we’re really hoping for some great things after they’ve had three years of intensive work.”
Those who have a hard time understanding may need more individualized instruction, she said, noting the board uses test results to prepare next year’s lesson plans.
“We have to find different ways to work with those students to help them understand the math,” she said.
Ontario’s government announced earlier this month it’s reviewing and planning to update the school curriculum in the wake of disappointing math results.