Things haven't changed. Math is still hard.

Some good news and some not-so-good news for students and administrators for two local school boards after the release of the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) results for the 2015-2016 school year.

The EQAO is an independent agency that tracks and assesses Ontario students’ achievements in reading, writing and math at key stages throughout the course of their education.

When it came to math, a challenging subject for many students, 64 Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board (H-SCDSB) students were assessed in Grade 9 applied mathematics.

Of those, eight per cent had met the provincial applied math standard in both Grade 6 and Grade 9, 66 per cent did not.

Of 119 students at the academic mathematics level, results were much better, but still low overall, which is also the case right across Ontario.

43 per cent had met the provincial standard in both Grade 6 and Grade 9, 27 per cent did not.

As remedial steps, the H-SCDSB, at its regular monthly meeting held at the board’s St. Kateri site Wednesday, announced it will be;

• tracking students more effectively through an updated data portal
• using data from student profiles, student work, EQAO testing and teacher input to identify students in risk 
• embedding EQAO-type questions into daily classroom work
• providing “boot camp” assistance for students with more individualized help from qualified teachers specializing in math
• supporting students with special needs with Learning Strategies blocks and providing assistive technology as needed
• encouraging elementary students to participate in summer learning opportunities which support numeracy and literacy skills, such as REACH and the Summer Learning Program

216 Algoma District School Board (ADSB) students were assessed in Grade 9 applied mathematics for 2015-2016.

Of those, 11 per cent had met the provincial applied math standard in both Grade 6 and Grade 9, 60 per cent did not.

Of 331 students at the academic mathematics level, 55 per cent had met the provincial standard in both Grade 6 and Grade 9, 21 per cent did not.

Meanwhile, 82 per cent of H-SCDSB students were successful with the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) in 2015-2016, one percentage point above the provincial average of 81 per cent.

Board officals described that as a good news story.

68 percent of Algoma District School Board (ADSB) students were successful with the OSSLT, below the provincial average of 81 per cent.

At the ADSB’s Committee of the Whole meeting held October 11, Lucia Reese, ADSB director of education, said the board and the public should not rank and define student achievement strictly through large-scale testing as done by the EQAO.

“The best indicators and the best data we have is in our schools, from our teachers on a day-to-day basis,” Reese said.

“Of course we want to improve, we’re never going to stop improving, but EQAO is not the litmus test of how schools and how our students are performing,” Reese said, stating there are many individual success stories among students and their achievement in ADSB schools.