Congratulations to York Catholic District School Board students; they have done Ontario proud

BY PAUL JUNOR

The York Catholic District School Board (YCDSB) is one of the largest in the GTA. Serving the municipality of York, with about 50,000 students, it has students attending its schools from all over York Region. The recent release of the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) and Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) results for 2021-2022 have elicited diverse responses from varied education stakeholders. The EQAO assessment test which is administered to students in grades: three, six, and nine had mixed results that drew the attention of Education Minister, Stephen Leece.

The YCDSB released a press release on Thursday, November 3^rd, 2022 in which it provided details about the performance of its students in the 2022 EQAO and OSSLT. Domenic Scuglia, Director of Education for the YCDSB states, “We are very proud of our students and staff for the high level of achievement they consistently demonstrate throughout the year. We are pleased that students at York Catholic performed well on the assessments, yet we know that there is more work to be done, especially in mathematics.”

Elizabeth Crowe, Chair of the Board of Trustees at the YCDSB states, “Thank you to all YCDSB: staff, students, and parents for taking a faith-filled and values-driven approach to their ongoing commitment to student success. EQAO scores provide one aspect of the overall assessment of our students that assists us in developing our board and school improvement plans.”

An examination of the YCDSB and provincial averages for all the areas of testing in: reading, writing and math shows that the performance of the students was significantly higher than the provincial averages. The best performance of the students was seen in those who wrote the grades: six reading and writing assessments with 91/% and 93% attaining the provincial standard, compared to 85% and 84% for the provincial average.

With respect to grade three reading and writing, 82% and 78% were able to attain the provincial standards, compared to 73% and 65% for the provincial average. These results revealed that YCDSB’s students’ literacy skills are still well-developed, and this is a significant improvement considering that some students participated in class online and did not have the benefits of in-person support and help.

With respect to the grade three, six, and nine EQAO result data shows that the percentage of students who achieved the provincial standards was significantly higher than the provincial averages. It is important to note that the students who participated in EQAO were those who attended classes in-person. Students who were enrolled in remote learning did not participate in the EQAO unless they made the choice to attend in-person.

It is important that the 2021-2022 EQAO assessments are interpreted within the context of factors that made these results unique. There are many contextual differences that make a comparison between these results and previous years’ results complex. This has been largely due to the effect of adjusting to COVID-19 pandemic planning.

For additional information about the 2022 EQAO and OSSLT results, as well as the results of individual schools, parents or caregivers can check the EQAO’s website.

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