When it comes to Ontario’s standardised high school arithmetic test, boards take a unique approach.
This year’s provincial high school math exam in Ontario is anything but typical.
Some school boards are requesting permission from the province to cancel the Education Quality and Accountability Office’s Grade 9 Math Assessment, while others are taking action without waiting for approval.
Despite a slew of pandemic-related disruptions, including a two-week period of remote learning following the winter break and extensive absenteeism caused by the highly contagious Omicron variety of COVID-19, many people are taking the standardised EQAO test, as mandated by the Ministry of Education.
However, some argue that reducing the test’s length — which isn’t a requirement for graduation but is used to evaluate student achievement at the school, board, and provincial levels — is a simple approach to lighten students’ burden during the third academic year, which has been impacted by COVID-19.
“It’s just adding burden to an already incredibly burdened system, from a mental health perspective, to students, staff, and all their families,” said Kathleen Woodcock, a trustee with the Waterloo Region District School Board who has introduced a motion to request another year of reprieve from the test, which was temporarily postponed last year due to the pandemic.
However, some argue that reducing the test’s length — which isn’t a requirement for graduation but is used to evaluate student performance at the school, board, and provincial levels — is a simple way for students to lighten their load during a third academic year impacted by COVID-19.
“It’s just adding burden to an already incredibly burdened system, from a mental health perspective, to students, staff, and all their families,” said Kathleen Woodcock, a trustee with the Waterloo Region District School Board who’s introduced a motion to request another year of reprieve from the test, which was temporarily postponed last year due to the pandemic.
The motion will be voted on by the committee of the whole next week. Meanwhile, the board has opted not to conduct the test this semester, and the response they receive from Education Minister Stephen Lecce’s office will determine how the assessment will be handled in Term 2.
A motion to make a similar request is set to be debated on Thursday evening by the Toronto Catholic District School Board.
This year, the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, Peel District School Board, and Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board have all decided to cancel at least portion of their students’ tests.
“The Grade 9 EQAO assessment will not be given to students in Quadmester 2 at HWDSB.” In an emailed statement, Bill Torrens, superintendent of student achievement, said, “The remaining time will be focused on the successful completion of the Grade 9 Math course.” “The evaluation took place in Quadmester 1.” In Semester 2, we intend to resume our participation.”
Peel and Dufferin-Peel Catholic, on the other hand, have stated that the tests will not be conducted for the remainder of the year.
The province mandates that all Grade 9 students who are learning in person take the test, but it also notes that this year, boards have more freedom in “scheduling or rescheduling” tests “as necessary.”
“While the EQAO assessment began earlier this year with 140,000 students already completing their assessments, our government will continue to invest in and support learning in reading and mathematics, as well as significant funding to support student mental health,” said Caitlin Clark, a Lecce spokeswoman.
However, for some boards, this flexibility is insufficient.
Despite being administered on a computer, the province requires that the tests be administered in person so that teachers can observe their students. Because learning was remote between Jan. 5 and Jan. 19, when some schools were supposed to deliver the assessments, the Toronto District School Board had challenges, said to spokesman Ryan Bird.
“We informed schools that if participating would pose issues in terms of supporting students, finishing curricula, and so on,” he wrote in an email.
The pandemic, according to Mary Reid, an assistant professor at the University of Toronto’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education who specialises in teaching mathematics, makes administering the test more difficult in a variety of ways.
“(The Ministry of Education) expects all Grade 9 pupils to take the test, oblivious to the fact that there are 1,001 possibilities that make it logistically demanding and challenging,” Mary Reid explained.
Some schools, for example, may be out of laptops used for conducting assessments because they sent them all home with children during the transition to online instruction, Reid said. Students may take the test on their own devices, according to the EQAO, but only provided they have necessary software installed to avoid cheating.
While EQAO assessments are useful tools for making pedagogy and curricular decisions, officials wouldn’t lose much by skipping this year’s test, according to Reid.
“It’s a one-of-a-kind situation.” “We are living in an extraordinary period,” she declared. “Because of the mental health of children and the logistical constraints, the validity and reliability of this Grade 9 math evaluation may be severely limited.” It’s just that this isn’t the best year to make this a mandate.”
The jumble of techniques taken by school boards to the evaluation, according to Reid, is a symptom of poor ministerial control.
“This is the danger: if you write a letter to the ministry and they say, ‘No,’ you’re in trouble. You have to. It is obligatory for you to do so. You’re stuck in a corner if you don’t do this. If you don’t write to the ministry and afterwards request pardon, it’s fine. So, are you ready to take that chance?”