EQAO results for LDSB students remain below provincial average

Jeff Green | Nov 08, 2017

In response to the release of the provincial Education Quality and Education Test results, the communications department of the Limestone District School Board (LDSB) might score well, above the provincial average, if they were being tested for creative writing skills.
The headline on the LDSB release that accompanied the province wide release of results, which took place in late September, was the following: EQAO results show achievement in some levels continuing to improve.

While it is true that results for Special Needs students in the board improved, the other result that was touted, a narrow improvement in grade 6 reading and writing scores, is diminished when you look at the comparative data in the tables at the bottom of the release.
In every single category, Limestone’s results lag behind province-wide results, by an average of 12% on the three categories tested in grade 3, 8% in the categories tested in grade 6, and 6% in the grade 9 math test.

The only parity in the release came from the scores of Academic stream English students, who met the 92% provincial success rate in the literacy test. Applied level English students, at 40%, were 4% behind the provincial average of 44%.
Math results, in particular, are a concern for all ages of students in the LDSB.

47% of Limestone grade 3 students tested at the provincial standard level in math (the provincial average was 62%) and only 39% of grade 6 students reached that level (50% - provincial average).
77% of grade 9 Academic stream math students in grade 9 reached the provincial standard (83% - provincial average) and 38% in the Applied stream reached the standard (44% - provincial average).

“We have, and will continue, to make math teaching and learning a priority among our staff and students,” said Limestone Board Director of Education Debra Rantz, in response to the results. “We have been getting better at the early identification of students who are not meeting math expectations and we will remain focused on supporting these students.”

While there are some exceptions, the results in primary schools in Frontenac County tend to be at below the rest of the Limestone Board in terms of results.

Again math continues to be a difficulty, but there is some good news at the High School level. Grade 9 students at Sydenham HS are actually at or above the provincial average in math scores, and Granite Ridge EC students are not too far behind, while the results at North Addington EC lag quite a bit, but in North Addington’s case the small number of students makes it difficult to generalize from the results.