If the annual EQAO assessments are any indication, some grade 3 students in Mapleton schools are performing worse than the provincial and school board average in reading, writing and mathematics.
However, most grade six students in the township are outperforming their peers at the board and across the province. In fact, in several categories, they rank as among the most successful in the county.
And grade 9 students are meeting, if not exceeding, the provincial and board results in math tests.
Every year the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) assesses the reading, writing and math test results for students in grades 3 and 6, and also the math results for grade 9 students.
There is always debate as to how much weight parents, teachers and education officials should place on the scores, though some agree the results are a helpful way of gauging the success of students and of comparing the progress of different schools.
Last week the assessments were released for every school in Ontario.
Local grade 3 results
At the four elementary schools in Mapleton Township 46% of students were considered at level three and four reading, as defined in the Ontario curriculum. That figure is below both the provincial average (61%) and the overall results for the Upper Grand District School Board (60%).
In writing, 58% of students in Mapleton schools were at or above the provincial standard, which is lower than the provincial (68%) and UGDSB (67%) results.
In mathematics, 62% of local students were at or above the standard level, which also is below both the provincial (70%) and board (67%) results.
The individual results for each school are as follows:
– Alma Public School, 39% are at level three and four in reading, 44% in writing and 67% in math;
– Centre Peel Public School, 25% in reading, 39% in writing and 32% in math;
– Drayton Heights Public School, 69% in reading, 79% in writing and 86% in math; and
– Maryborough Public School, 50% in reading, 70% in writing and 63% in math.
Grade 6 results
In general, the overall results for grade six students in Mapleton were better than those for the younger students.
About 68% of grade six students were at or above the provincial standard for reading, which is about the same as the provincial results and slightly lower than the results for the UGDSB (72%).
In writing, 67% of students in Mapleton schools were at or above the provincial standard, which is the same as the provincial and board results (67 and 66% respectively).
In mathematics, 64% of local students were at or above the standard level, which is similar to the provincial (63%) and board (61%) results.
The individual results for each school are as follows:
– Alma Public School, 73% in reading, 69% in writing and 73% in math;
– Centre Peel Public School, 36% in reading, 21% in writing and 18% in math;
– Drayton Heights Public School, 89% in both reading and writing and 74% in math; and
– Maryborough Public School, 75% in reading, 88% in writing and 92% in math.
Drayton Heights Public School’s results for grade 6 writing were tops in all of Wellington County, while Maryborough Public School students ranked second in the county in the same category.
In grade 6 math Maryborough Public School students ranked second in the county.
Grade 9 results
At the two high schools attended by most Mapleton grade 9 students – Centre Wellington District High School in Fergus and Norwell District Secondary School in Palmerston – 52% of students in the applied program were at or above the provincial standard for math, while the figure for academic students was 79%.
The province-wide result for applied students was 38%, while the UGDSB result was 52%. For students in the academic program, the results were 77% and 83% respectively.
Results for each high school in the county were:
– Centre Wellington, 52% in the applied program and 77% in the academic program;
– Erin District High School, 55% and 86% respectively;
– Norwell District Secondary School, 51% and 81%; and
– Wellington Heights Secondary School in Mount Forest, 55% and 65%.
More details
For more information – including the complete results for all 27 elementary schools in Wellington County and historical records for all county schools – visit the EQAO website at eqao.com.
At 56 schools in the UGDSB’s jurisdiction, 2,155 grade 3 students, 2,357 grade 6 students and 906 grade 9 students wrote the tests last school year.
The EQAO contends it is “important to consider a school’s results in light of its unique circumstances.” With this goal in mind, the EQAO has provided six key questions as “a tool to help parents and guardians understand the results in the appropriate context.”
The questions are available at www.eqao.com.
