Oct. 19, 2005

Peel board students perform well on provincial tests
ESL, special education students show strong improvement

Students at the Peel board continue to perform well on EQAO tests. ESL students made the most significant gains – improving 15 per cent on the grade 9 math test and seven per cent in grade 6 writing.

"Peel teachers, parents and students work well together to prepare for these tests," says Jim Grieve, director of education. "I am particularly proud of the wonderful improvement in the results for our ESL and special education students. The daily support and instruction delivered by staff to all students is part of our commitment to improving the achievement for every student in the Peel board."

Overall, grade 3 students improved in writing by two per cent while grade 6 scores have gone up by five per cent. Grade 3 ESL students have improved in writing by two per cent, while grade 6 scores have gone up by seven per cent. Special education students in grade 3 improved in writing by two per cent, while grade 6 special education students improved by five per cent.

Overall, this is how grade 3 students performed:

levels 2, 3, 4

levels 3, 4

	2004-05	2004-05	2003-04	2004-05	2004-05	2003-04
	Peel board	Province	Peel board	Peel board	Province	Peel board
reading	86%	86%	83%	57%	59%	57%
writing	96%	93%	93%	63%	61%	61%
math	93%	92%	92%	67%	66%	69%

Overall, this is how grade 6 students performed:

levels 2, 3, 4

levels 3, 4

	2004-05	2004-05	2003-04	2004-05	2004-05	2003-04
	Peel board	Province	Peel board	Peel board	Province	Peel board
reading	89%	88%	85%	62%	63%	60%
writing	95%	92%	90%	61%	59%	56%
math	90%	89%	87%	59%	60%	59%

overview of grade 3 and 6 results 2004-05

Other findings from the grade 3 and 6 test results include the following:

• The percentage of grade 3 ESL students enrolled in the Peel board has increased by two per cent while in grade 6, there is one per cent more ESL students
• 45 per cent of grade 3 students and 38 per cent of grade 6 students in the Peel board learned a first language other than English at home, while provincially, only 20 per cent of grade 3 students and 19 per cent of grade 6 students learned a first language other than English at home
• Girls continue to perform higher in reading and writing than boys, while there is no gender gap in math

"The Peel board continues to focus on teaching students to read and write in all grades and all subjects. Schools and the board work hard to find ways to help students build the skills they need to be successful," says Chuck Waterman, superintendent of curriculum and instruction. "Over the past year, the Peel board conducted a reading attitudes survey to help us be more effective in teaching reading, especially to boys. With the data from this research, new initiatives are being developed to help engage students' interest in reading. There are also programs like Counting on You and Reaching Higher, which allow teachers to support students in numeracy and literacy."

Overall, this is how grade 9 students performed:

levels 2, 3, 4

levels 3, 4

	2004-05	2004-05	2003-04	2004-05	2004-05	2003-04
	Peel board	Province	Peel board	Peel board	Province	Peel board
Applied	62%	64%	64%	24%	27%	27%
Academic	86%	87%	85%	67%	68%	68%

overview of grade 9 results 2004-05

• 58 per cent of ESL students are performing at levels 3 and 4 in academic math – this is a 15 per cent increase over last year
• 13 per cent of ESL students are performing at levels 3 and 4 in applied math, while 27 per cent are performing at level 2
• 19 per cent of special education students are performing at levels 3 and 4 in applied math, while 41 per cent are performing at level 2

EQAO rates student performance on a four-level scale, the same scale used in the Ontario curriculum. Level 1 is below standard and level 4 is above standard. Level 3 is the provincial standard and equates to a grade level of B. A score of level 3 means the student works independently, understands most of the required concepts and completes work with only a few minor errors or omissions. Level 2 work, which equates to a grade level of C, is approaching the provincial standard. Generally, level 2 achievement means the student has learned some of what is expected and still has some more to learn.

The Peel board provides training for both teachers and students to help boost learning in math, which includes:

• Increase in the number of schools that offer the Counting On You program. This program provides extracurricular math training for students to help support their math knowledge.
• A five-day math institute held last summer, to help teachers upgrade their teaching skills in math.
• Two math symposiums that introduced new resources for learning and teaching math and identifying new strategies to help understand the individual needs of students.
• Opportunities for grade 7 – 10 teachers to collaborate with their peers to address the needs of today's students.

"It’s important for parents and the public to understand that the EQAO assessments are tests of the actual curriculum students are learning. Unlike a standardized test, a student's performance on the test is not compared to that of other students—instead, students are scored on how well they perform the required skills expected in that subject and grade," says Waterman.

All results in this news release are reported as "all students", formerly referred to as "method 1." The number of students achieving at each level is reported by EQAO as a percentage of all students in the grade, whether or not they took the test.

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Media contact: Chuck Waterman, Superintendent, Curriculum and Instruction Support Services, 905-890-1010, ext. 2343

Reference: Priya Ramsingh, Communications Officer, 905-890-1010, ext. 2817

Note: Complete Peel board results are on the website at www.peelschools.org (within this news release, or call 905-890-1010, ext. 2809 for a copy.