‘They are falling so far behind’ 920 CATHOLIC+1,957 PUBLIC = 2,877
Math scores in Hamilton’s public school board are ‘disastrous,’ with just one-third of students meeting the provincial standard. The issue is particularly pronounced in high-needs schools, where up to three quarters of kids fail to meet the benchmark. Ham
ALMOST GRADE 6
ALL OF THE students at Hamilton public school Cathy Wever failed to meet the provincial standard in math last year.
Just three per cent of kids at the central Hamilton school had the mathematics skills expected by the province at the end of Grade 6.
It wasn’t the only Hamilton elementary school to have the vast majority of math students fail the annual standardized tests done by the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO).
Cecil B. Stirling on the east Mountain had eight per cent of Grade 6 kids meet the benchmark in the 2015-to-2016 school year.
George L. Armstrong on the central Mountain had nine per cent of Grade 6 math students meet the mark while Prince of Wales in east Hamilton had 10 per cent.
In total, about three-quarters of Hamilton public schools and half of Catholic schools had more Grade 6 students fail the math test than pass in the last school year.
“Disastrous” is how former longtime Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board trustee Judith Bishop described the results.
She went to the board in May looking for action after her own analysis of EQAO scores found the problem is particularly acute in high- and moderate-needs schools.
A mere 24 per cent of kids met the benchmark in Grade 6 math last year at schools determined to be high or moderate needs because more of their students are transient, live in poverty and have less-educated parents.
That compares to the HWDSB average of 38 per cent, which is already far below the provincial average of 50 per cent.
“They are falling so far behind,” said Bishop.
“It’s very disturbing. Schools in the highest needs areas are doing so poorly.”
Schools with the majority of Grade 6 students failing to meet the provincial standard in math in Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) testing for the 2015 to 2016 school year. Ontario average is 50 per cent.
THE
SITUATION is not much better in Grade 3 with 50 per cent of Hamilton public school students meeting provincial expectations last year. Again, it’s far behind the provincial average of 63 per cent.
“We are as a board sharing the concern across the province that having 50 per cent or less of our students performing at a standard is not something that is acceptable,” said Peter Sovran, executive superintendent of student achievement and school operations at the HWDSB.
“We want to work with our partners across the province and really better understand this.”
The Grade 3 scores plummet further when looking at only high- and moderate-needs schools in Hamilton.
A mere 34 per cent of kids met the mark, said Bishop, who was the trustee for Ward 1 for 26 years before deciding not to run for re-election in 2014.
Vast disparity between schools from different parts of the city has been a long-standing problem.
Bishop’s analysis shows high- and moderate-needs schools struggling well below the provincial and school board averages in math since at least 2008.
“In 2016, high- and moderate-needs schools have some of the lowest EQAO results in HWDSB and are some of the lowest-achieving schools in the province,” Bishop told the school board in May.
Bishop points to the low scores of a handful of Hamilton public schools, including Cathy Wever, which have higher than average special education needs, English language learners and students who have been in Canada less than one year.
Sovran agrees that socioeconomic factors affected the school’s results.
“Staff at Cathy Wever worked hard in 2015-16 to prepare for this assessment, using an After-School Scholars program for Grades 3 and 6 students, sample EQAO questions in math classes and a focus on communicating work and answering multiple-choice questions, which are rarely used in elementary grades,” he said.
“However, the high-needs school saw a large influx of newcomer students requiring ESL (English as a second language) instruction. Even if a non-English-speaking student does not take the test, they receive a mark of zero, which impacts the school’s results.”
He points out that it’s more accurate to look at trends rather than one school year in isolation when analyzing the results of the tests given in Grades 3,6 and 9 for math.
To compare, Cathy Wever’s combined result from 2014 to 2016 is 19 per cent of kids meeting provincial expectations.
But the last school year is like a red flag with breathtaking drops in the number of kids meeting provincial standards that are hard to ignore.
Cathy Wever saw its Grade 6 math score dive to three per cent last year from 35 per cent in the 2013-to-2014 school year. There are no results for the 2014-to-2015 school year because of labour action.
“Staff were surprised by the results and know they have work to do,” said Sovran.
Cecil B. Stirling saw its scores plummet to eight per cent from 22 per cent.
Prince of Wales plunged to 10 per cent from 56 per cent.
The HWDSB average itself fell to 38 per cent last year from 46 per cent in the 2013-to-2014 school year in Grade 6 math.
“It is a provincial phenomenon,” said Sovran. “The trend is definitely similar to that across the province.”
WHILE THERE IS NO DOUBT students Ontario-wide are struggling to meet the provincial standard in math — especially in Grade 6 — the issue is particularly stark in Hamilton’s public schools.
And the dismal math results are not limited to high- and moderate-needs schools.
A Spectator analysis of EQAO results from the last school year shows fewer than one in three Grade 6 students met provincial expectations in almost half of Hamilton public schools.
Fewer than one in four met the mark in math in about one-quarter of schools.
In fact, the top 10 results for Grade 6 math last year include four schools with 60 per cent or fewer students meeting provincial standards. Only one school had more than 80 per cent of students making the grade.
And the problem is only getting worse.
In both Grades 3 and 6, the number of Hamilton public school students meeting provincial expectations fell by about 10 percentage points since the 2011-to-2012 school year.
“The ministry (of education) is really trying to figure this out as well,” said Sovran about falling math grades provincewide. “With the assessment at the Grade 6 level, why are we seeing this dip?”
To address the divide between HWDSB and the province — particularly in high- and moderate-needs schools — Bishop asked the board to develop and implement a four-year plan.
Her recommendations also include establishing an advisory committee of community experts and designating oversight for high- and moderate-needs schools. Trustees agreed in May to ask staff to review her recommendations.
“The same kids who fail in Grade 6, fail in Grade 9,” she told The Spectator about the importance of addressing the issue.
A report by EQAO backs up her claims that a significant number of students struggling in Grade 3 math are at risk of failing all the way through to high school.
It found 37 per cent of Hamilton public school kids who did not meet the standard in math in Grade 3 also failed in Grade 6 from 2013 to 2016.
In Hamilton’s Catholic board, it was 29 per cent.
In hard numbers, that is about 1,700 struggling Hamilton students.
A further 25 per cent of HWDSB students and 22 per cent of Catholic children failed to make the mark in Grade 6 despite meeting expectations in Grade 3.
It adds nearly 1,200 more students to those falling behind.
Only three per cent of students at HWDSB and four per cent in the Catholic schools were able to turn around failing scores in Grade 3 and meet the benchmark in Grade 6. It means just 173 struggling Hamilton students saw enough improvement during that time to meet provincial expectations.
“We really need a concerted effort to support the kids on the cusp,” said Mary Reid, assistant professor specializing in math at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. “We did that in literacy.”
The same report shows kids struggling with reading and writing are far more likely to get the help they need with about three-quarters of students in HWDSB and more than 80 per cent in the Catholic board meeting the benchmark by Grade 6.
Grade 9 applied math showed some improvement with 30 per cent of HWDSB students and 41 per cent of Catholic school teens making the mark after missing it in Grade 6 from 2013 to 2016.
Students failing to meet the provincial benchmarks are more likely to go into applied math, which develops skills through practical applications and concrete examples.
In contrast, students meeting the standard are more likely to enrol in academic courses that develop knowledge through the study of theory and abstract problems.
But ultimately, more applied-math students continued to fail than succeed.
About 56 per cent of applied-math students at HWDSB and 48 per cent in the Catholic board didn’t meet the standard in Grade 6 or Grade 9. Bumping it another two to three per cent are those who made the mark in Grade 6 but not in Grade 9.
Overall, roughly two-thirds of applied-math students fell short of curriculum expectations in Grade 9 at HWDSB.
Just over half missed the mark in Hamilton’s Catholic high schools and for Ontario’s average.
“There needs to be a whole lot of unpacking,” said Bishop. “It’s not one simple solution.”
GRADE 6
The first term of a pattern is 28 672. The pattern rule is “divide by 4 to get the next term.” What is the 5th term? 28 112 448 7168 ANSWER: 112
How many minutes are in 365 days?
8,760 minutes 21,900 minutes 262,800 minutes 525,600 minutes ANSWER: 525,600 MINUTES
GRADE 3
Brock has 112 trading cards. His brother gives him 108 more. Brock then gives away 130 cards to a friend. How many trading cards does Brock have left? 350 110 90 80 ANSWER: 90
This pattern has two missing numbers. 85, ____, 73, 67, ____, 55, 49, 43 What is the rule for this pattern? +12 +6 −6 −12 ANSWER: — 6
GRADE 9 APPLIED
At a local event, the ratio of hamburgers to hotdogs sold is 5:3. The number of hamburgers sold is 275. How many more hamburgers than hotdogs are sold? Show your work. ANSWER: 110
This question originally appeared Thursday with an incorrect answer.
Cornerstone High School has 1,860 students. 45 per cent of the students bike or walk to school. 372 students drive to school. The remaining students travel to school by bus. How many students travel to school by bus? 651 837 1209 1443 ANSWER: 651
The HWDSB average itself fell to 38 per cent last year from 46 per cent in the 2013 to 2014 school year in Grade 6 math.