EQAO Testing

EQAO Testing

EQAO is an independent agency of the Ontario government. EQAO provides accurate, objective and clear information about student achievement and the quality of publicly funded education in Ontario. In addition, EQAO works to ensure that this information is used to bring about improvement for individual students and for the education system as a whole.

EQAO Established in 1996, the government established the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) to

accomplish its mandate of designing new tests for grades 3, 6, 9, 10 in reading, writing and mathematics;
manage the administration of these tests;
report the results to the public; and
Collect data to help determine the effectiveness of’s education system.

From the onset, the tests raised levels of anxiety for students, parents, teachers and school boards.

The EQAO assessment is based on The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 1-8 which
outlines what students in each grade are expected to learn. Each spring students in Grade 3 and Grade 6 across the province of Ontario are tested in the area of reading, writing and math.

Students are required to demonstrate what they know and can do. They require students to do much more than memorize or recite facts. They cannot “cram” for this test. Students:

§ read and respond to a variety of materials.

§ write for different purposes and audiences.

§ solve mathematical problems, apply procedures and explain their answers.

Students are permitted to use math manipulative and calculators. Where appropriate, teachers may assist students by providing certain accommodations. The assessments involve real-world problems and tasks. The assessments are similar to regular classroom activities.

How this information is used?

EQAO reports on Education Quality Indicators Framework data annually, as part of the school, board and provincial results. This information is intended to:

· Provide demographic and other education-related environmental information that will help teachers, administrators and the public interpret student achievement scores in the context of the school, board and province, and to

· Provide information that can be used by decision-makers at the provincial, board and school levels for improvement planning as they create the best possible learning environment for students.

· The Education Quality Indicators Framework data are derived annually from student, teacher and principal questionnaires, assessments and school board student information systems.

What are the key benefits of EQAO's work?

· Students know more about how well they are doing in reading, writing and/or mathematics and what they need to do in order to improve.

· Teachers and principals have more feedback on how well students are meeting the expectations in the provincial curriculum and how effectively teaching strategies and school programs are meeting students' needs.

· Parents are more familiar with the expectations in the provincial curriculum and better informed about their children's achievement and progress.

· Ontarians have accurate and objective information about student achievement and education quality in the publicly funded education system.

How does EQAO report the results of the Grade 3 and Grade 6 assessments?

EQAO reports on student achievement at the individual, school, board and provincial levels.

Each student will receive an Individual Student Report that provides information about the student’s achievement. This information will assist students, parents and teachers in developing individual plans for successful learning.

Schools and boards will receive a report that provides aggregated achievement results and aggregated contextual data from student, teacher and principal questionnaires.

How do EQAO's assessments benefit parents?

EQAO's assessments give parents valuable information about the strengths and areas for improvement in their child’s learning. Parents and educators can use this data, along with information on the student’s performance in the classroom, to determine the steps that need to be taken to ensure the student’s success. In this way, parents can support teachers and schools in planning for their child’s success in learning.

What role do EQAO assessments play in ongoing classroom assessment?

Because they are based directly on the provincial curriculum, the results provide a snapshot of student achievement that adds to the more comprehensive information teachers collect throughout the year from classroom assessments, daily observations and conversations with parents.

How do schools and boards use the results?

The reports provide detailed information about the results of the assessments. Students, parents and teachers can use this information to improve student achievement.

The reports provide information that educators can use to ensure that classroom programs and instructional strategies are designed effectively. They can also be used in researching student achievement.

Outcomes

For Taxpayers:

· Increase, through a base of clear and reliable information, public ability to make judgments about the quality of education available across Ontario

· Report on the success of our students measured against accepted, understandable standards in order to evaluate and improve learning

· Ability to analyze student achievement in Ontario in relation to national and international standards

· Improve public understanding of the ways in which students' knowledge and skills are assessed

· Report to the general public on the state of Ontario's schools, with data on achievement, and the contextual factors that influence student learning

For Students:

· Provide students with clear and timely information on their progress

· Reinforce student successes and identify areas where attention is needed

· Provide information and direction which give students insight to plan for their future

· Demonstrate to students that the knowledge and skills required of them are consistent across the province

· Strengthen students' involvement in continuous learning and improvement

For Parents:

· Make parents increasingly aware of content taught and standards expected in our schools

· Create opportunities for timely intervention to support student improvement

· Clarify expectations for students' academic performance at key ages and stages through which parents can evaluate their children's progress

· Give parents information they can use when talking to teachers about their children's progress

For Teachers

· Help teachers to ascertain students' knowledge and skills, so they may intervene appropriately to foster improvement

· Recognize the importance of the teacher's daily observations and records in both good teaching and good classroom assessment

· Model and publicize excellent assessment practices which can serve as examples for daily classroom evaluation and help teachers improve their assessment skills

· Provide common language and examples of student achievement to ensure straightforward reporting

· Address public criticism of the education system by providing teachers with clear and credible data on student achievement and strategies for improvement.

Rationale:

Results from EQAO testing are an important indicator of student learning and measure achievement in relation to a common provincial standard. The objective and reliable information gained through these assessments adds to the current knowledge about how Ontario students are doing and has become an important tool for improvement planning at the student, school, school board and provincial levels. One of the biggest fears of teachers is that EQAO data will be used to judge them, or blame them for poor results. The school boards should make it clear that this is not the intent, but want to understand the “root causes” of the poor results, so that we can make positive changes that will help students learn. Teachers will be more approachable to working with data if they believe it will help their students succeed. Linking data to specific goals within the school improvement plan is an ideal condition.