Literacy tests show need for more support

Majority of those failing in Grade 10 were also unsuccessful in Grade 6

Ontario Grade 10 students continue to score high on literacy tests, but the majority of those who were unsuccessful had not met the literacy standards when they were in Grade 6, according to results of the latest high school literacy test released Wednesday.

Results of the 2014-15 Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test, released Wednesday by Ontario’s Education Quality and Accountability Office show that 82 per cent of the 127,867 Grade 10 students who wrote the test were able to demonstrate the minimum literacy skills required.

But the report highlights the need for new strategies to support most of the 18 per cent of students who did not meet the standard when they were in Grade 6, so they can turn their literacy struggles around by Grade 10.

Bruce Rodrigues, chief executive of the Education Quality and Accountability Office, said poor results in Grade 6 should be seen as a red flag and as barometer for future literacy tests. EQAO is an independent agency that creates and administers large-scale assessments to measure students’ achievement in reading, writing and math at key stages of their education.

“We know that for many students who didn’t meet the provincial standard in elementary school, receiving the right attention and support has helped them overcome their early literacy struggles,” said Rodrigues. “This effort must continue if we are to ensure that all students have the basic literacy skills they need to participate fully in society.”

The OSSLT measures whether students are meeting the minimum standard for literacy across all subjects up to the end of Grade 9. Students have a first opportunity to write the test in Grade 10. All students working toward a high school diploma take the assessment.

The success rate has remained virtually the same over the past five years. However in 2011, 59 per cent of students who had not met the reading standard in Grade 6 had

Receiving the right attention and support has helped them overcome their early literacy struggles.

improved sufficiently to pass the Grade 10 literacy test. But this year, that percentage fell to 48.

A further breakdown by gender shows that female students tend to outperform male students in literacy — a trend, EQAO says, that spans the globe. In Ontario, nine out of 10 female students, or 86 per cent, passed the literacy test, and eight out of 10 male students, or 78 per cent, were successful.

The EQAO will release school-and board-level results on the OSSLT on Sept. 23.