In a statement today, Trillium Lakelands District School Board (TLDSB) announced that grade 9 EQAO math assessments would be postponed until further notice.
“Currently both Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF) and the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) continue job action during the school day, which currently does not impact students and families,” reads the statement.
“OSSTF has indicated that supervision by teachers of the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) Grade 9 math assessment, scheduled for January, will be part of the provincial job action. All Ontario students who are enrolled in a Grade 9 applied or Grade 9 academic mathematics courses are normally required to take the EQAO Grade 9 math assessment. The EQAO is an independent provincial agency funded by the Government of Ontario. EQAO’s mandate is to conduct province-wide tests at key points in every students’ education, and report the results to educators, parents, and the public. EQAO measures students’ achievement in reading, writing, and mathematics in relation to Ontario Curriculum expectations.”
On Wednesday, Ontario’s Minister of Education, Stephen Lecce, said in a media release that the decision about whether or not grade 9 EQAO math assessments would proceed would be made by individual school boards across the province. “I recognize that this important assessment may not take place in the majority of English-public high schools. We continue to be concerned by the adverse impacts on students due to union escalation. Our Government remains focused on investing in students – not enhanced compensation. We are focused on developing the skills our students need to succeed in the classroom and in the jobs of the future.”
On its Twitter feed @osstf, the union replied, “Unlike Minister @Sflecce, parents & students know that teachers’ evaluations of student projects, conferences, classroom tests, group work, etc. provide a more accurate & complete assessment of student performance than just EQAO scores.”
TLDSB has decided not to proceed with the grade 9 assessments and said in its statement that the board “will not be able to administer the Grade 9 EQAO math assessment without teacher supervision. The Grade 9 EQAO math assessment will be postponed for all TLDSB secondary schools until normal circumstances prevail. As this will impact final mark calculations for students, the final 30% of Grade 9 math marks will be a combination of a culminating activity and the final exam as per the Ministry of Education Growing Success document.”
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