For immediate release
November 22, 1999

 EQAO RESULTS RELEASED

     According to the results of the third year of testing by the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO), the Grade 3 students in the Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board show continued improvement. In particular, there is improvement in mathematics where 10% more students achieved at or above the provincial standard, and in writing where 11% more pupils achieved at or above the provincial standard than was the case the previous year. These results maintain and improve upon the gains made last year.
     At its meeting of 1999 November 22, the Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board received a report describing the results of last spring's Grades 3 and 6 EQAO assessments. The assessments took place over the course of one week in May of 1999 and covered reading, writing and mathematics.
     Results show that, in the 1999 assessments, Grade 3 students performed very well. The Board is pleased to note that in reading, 49% of its students achieved at Levels 3 or 4, at or above provincial standard, compared to the provincial average of 48%. In writing, Hastings and Prince Edward students matched the provincial average with 56% scoring at or above the provincial standard. In mathematics, 59% performed at satisfactory levels compared to the provincial average of 60%.
     1999 was the first year for the assessment in Grade 6, hence, there are no Board or provincial statistics from last year with which to compare. In general, Grade 6 pupils did not achieve the levels that were expected, with 41% achieving at Levels 3 and 4 in writing compared to the provincial average of 50%.  In mathematics, 33% achieved at Levels 3 or 4 with the provincial average at 48% . Provincially, 50% achieved at Levels 3 and 4 in reading, while the achievement in Hastings and Prince Edward was 40%.
     "The steady gains in the Grade 3 assessments are due, in part, to the implementation of school and system-level improvement plans," says Randy Brown, Superintendent of Instruction and Curriculum. "We will implement similar instructional, administrative and assessment practices to support improvements in the next Grade 6 assessment."
 

For more information contact:
Randy Brown, Superintendent of Instruction and Curriculum Services
966-1170  ext. 2203