Rainbow Schools Record Significant Gains on EQAO Results

Students in Rainbow Schools made some significant gains on reading, writing and math assessments administered in the 2007-2008 school year. Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) results continue to show that learning and teaching strategies in Rainbow Schools are having an impact on student achievement over time.

In the elementary panel, an increase of 12 per cent of Grade 3 students achieved at or above the provincial standard in reading and an increase of 20 per cent of Grade 3 students achieved at or above the provincial standard in writing since 2002. Over the past six years, there has been an increase of 9 per cent of Grade 3 students achieving at or above the provincial standard in math. Gains were also made in Grade 6 reading, writing and math over time, with an increase of students achieving at or above the provincial standard of 7 per cent in reading, 15 per cent in writing and 4 per cent in math, since 2002.

“These increases, in both the Primary (1 to 3) and Junior (4 to 6) grades, represent the highest achievements in reading and writing by students in Rainbow Schools since the inception of provincial testing,” said Director of Education Jean Hanson. “Our educators are working diligently to raise the bar and close the gap and this is certainly reflected in the results.”  Director Hanson thanked classroom teachers and instructional leaders for their ongoing efforts and commended parents/guardians and the broader school communities for supporting student success.

Rainbow District School Board will continue to provide literacy resource teachers to targeted elementary schools to build teacher capacity in reading and writing, use EQAO data to develop strategies to support student success, and use assessment to track progress and inform instructional decision-making.

Gains over time were also impressive in the secondary panel. At the academic level, an increase of 14 per cent of students achieved at or above the provincial standard in Grade 9 math over the past eight years. At the applied level, an increase of 13 per cent of students achieved at or above the provincial standard in Grade 9 math since 2000.

“Again, we commend our secondary teachers for raising the bar and closing the gap in student achievement in Grade 9 math at both the academic and applied levels,” said Director Hanson. Building on these efforts, Rainbow District School Board will continue to support the work of mathematics program leaders in each of its secondary schools, provide resources to teachers to engage all students and all learning styles, and promote mathematics in real-life applications, making learning relevant.

EQAO results are an important tool for assisting schools and boards in identifying areas for continuous improvement. They provide a measure of how well students understand the expectations outlined in The Ontario Curriculum. Student assessment is most effective when data are interpreted in context, examined over time to determine trends in performance, and used to inform professional dialogue and school improvement planning.

“Assessment results are used to enhance student learning,” said Director Hanson. “The data helps us determine areas of focus in literacy and numeracy for school and board improvement planning by answering two important questions: How are we doing? and What can we do next to improve student learning?"

Grade 3 and Grade 6 Reading, Writing and Mathematics tests were written at the end of May 2008.  There were 937 students in Grade 3 in Rainbow Schools. There were 1,023 students in Grade 6 in Rainbow Schools. Very few students were exempt from the assessments.

The Grade 9 Mathematics test was administered in January and June 2008. A total of 1,276 students participated in the assessment, including 797 students in Academic Math and 479 students in Applied Math.

The Ministry of Education has set level 3 as the provincial standard.  Students in Level 4 have demonstrated a very high to outstanding level of achievement (80% to 100%). Achievement is above the provincial standard.  Students in Level 3 have demonstrated a high level of achievement (70% to 79%).

Copies of EQAO results are available at www.eqao.com.

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Primary Division (Grades 1 to 3) Reading, Writing and Mathematics
2007-2008 Assessment Results
Percentage at Levels 3 or 4

                                        Reading        Writing        Math
All students RDSB                57%            61%            61%
Participating students          60%            63%            62%

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RDSB Results from 2002-2008
Percentage at Levels 3 or 4
Shows steady improvements in academic achievement over time

   
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Junior Division (Grades 4 to 6) Reading, Writing and Mathematics
2007-2008 Assessment Results
Percentage at Levels 3 or 4

                                        Reading        Writing        Math
All students RDSB                64%            62%            59%
Participating students          66%            63%            61%

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RDSB Results from 2002-2008
Percentage at Levels 3 or 4
Shows steady improvements in academic achievement over time

            2002-03        2003-04        2004-05        2005-06        2006-07        2007-08

Reading        57%            55%            57%            61%            60%            64%
           
Writing         47%            45%            50%            58%            55%            62%
           
Math             55%            58%            62%            60%            56%            59%
           

Grade 9 Mathematics
2007-2008 Assessment Results
Percentage at Levels 3 or 4 – Academic
All students RDSB

                                          
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Grade 9 Mathematics
2007-2008 Assessment Results
Percentage at Levels 3 or 4 – Applied
All students RDSB

EQAO assessment results are reported in two ways – “All Students” and “Participating Students”. The “All Students” method reports results that are based on all students registered in the program.  The “Participating Students” method excludes students in the “exempt” and “no data” categories of the assessment.

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Media Contact:

Jean Hanson, Director of Education,
Rainbow District School Board, 705.674.3171, ext. 7215.