Math test for teachers unlikely to help student outcomes

Fewer than half of Grade 6 students in Hamilton make the grade in math

As Hamilton school boards continue to deal with low math scores on standardized testing, the province is implementing a new test for future teachers as it tries to boost student performance.

Experts say, based on the research, the teacher math proficiency test is likely to have little impact on student outcomes when it is rolled out this school year.

Meanwhile, the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) released standardized test results Wednesday for the 2018-19 school year that show fewer than half of Hamilton public and Catholic students are meeting the Grade 6 provincial math expectations.

Math results

At Hamilton’s public school board, 36 per cent of sixth grade students had the math skills set out in the Ontario curriculum, according to the data. The results show a one per cent increase over the previous year’s score, and a one per cent decrease compared to the board’s five-year average.

The data for last school year shows 49 per cent of Grade 6 students at Hamilton’s Catholic school board made the grade, down one per cent compared to the board’s five-year average and five per cent compared to the previous year’s results. The provincial average was 48 per cent for 2018-19.

“We remain, as we have been for quite some time, concerned about the level of achievement in the area of math — concerned both with our own results but as well what clearly has been a provincial trend for the last number of years,” said Hamilton Catholic school board chair Pat Daly.

In Grade 3, 48 per cent of Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board students met the provincial math expectations last school year, which is a mark of at least a Bminus, compared to 65 per cent at Hamilton’s Catholic school board.

The 2018-19 provincial average for Grade 3 mathematics was 58 per cent — a three per cent dip from the year prior — and 48 per cent for Grade 6 math, which represents a one per cent decrease over the same period.

“There is a clear disconnect between report card results and EQAO testing results, and not just for one year, for a number of years,” Daly said.

“Somehow we have to get to an understanding of why that is.”

HWDSB director of education Manny Figueiredo said he is pleased to see the board closing the gap with the province’s math scores, especially in Grade 9.

Last school year, 39 per cent of public school board students met

In Grade 3, 48 per cent of HWDSB students met the provincial math expectations, which is a mark of at least a B-minus or 70 per cent.

the provincial expectations in Grade 9 applied math compared to 44 per cent at the provincial level.

At the Catholic board, 38 per cent of Grade 9 students were at or above the provincial standard in applied math and 79 per cent in academic math.

In Grade 9 academic math, the public board saw 82 per cent of students make the grade in 2018-19 compared to 84 per cent provincewide and 79 per cent at the Catholic board.

Figueiredo said the public board’s focus on its strategic directions, which include improving in mathematics, appear to be paying off, but there is still work to be done.

“We still have a ways to go.”

Proficiency test

This summer, details were released about the new mathematics proficiency test on which teacher candidates will need to get at least 70 per cent to register with the Ontario College of Teachers.

The multiple-choice test, which is being developed by EQAO at the direction of the Ministry of Education, will consist of 70 per cent math content from Grades 3 to 11, and the remainder will be pedagogy.

“Too many students in Ontario are not succeeding in mathematics — a foundational competency that is critical to their success in life and in the labour market,” Education Minister Stephen Lecce said in a statement. “That is why our government is strengthening the foundation in mathematics by getting back to basics in numeracy, investing in a $200-million new math strategy, in addition to professional development of our educators to ensure our kids have every opportunity to succeed.”

An EQAO literature review of research on compulsory teacher testing found that while it can be “weakly to moderately predictive of classroom practice and student performance, particularly in middle or high school,” test scores are “much less” related to student outcomes than factors like teacher certification and experience.

“While these tests may receive support from policy-makers, educators and the public, the fundamental goal of these tests — to improve student learning — is often not met,” the report said.

Mary Reid, an assistant professor of math education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, worries the test could affect the future pool of teachers by exacerbating the French teacher shortage and deterring great teachers who are not strong in math.

“How does understanding parabolas and cosine and sine and solving two unknown variables in a problem, how is that going to help a drama secondary teacher, a visual arts secondary teacher, a history teacher?” Reid said. “That to me does not make sense.”

Locally, Daly from the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board said teachers must be able to teach today’s curriculum. “If this contributes to that, then my belief (is) that it’s a positive thing,” he said.

Figueiredo said he sees the test as a possible way to build the capacity of math teachers. A “minority” of kindergarten to Grade 6 teachers have a background in math, he said.

“Content expertise — do I think that could be a gap? Absolutely,” he said.

Grade 3 and Grade 6 gap

Compare the most recent Grade 6 math results to the 2015-16 results when the same cohort was in Grade 3.

At the public board, 50 per cent of students met the provincial expectations in Grade 3 then compared to 36 per cent in Grade 6 now.

Over the same period at the HWCDSB, 69 per cent of students made the grade in third grade compared to 49 per cent in Grade 6 now.

It’s a trend mirrored at the provincial level, where 63 per cent of Grade 3 students met expectations in 2015-16 compared to 48 per cent of Grade 6 students in 2018-19.

What is happening in Grades 4, 5 and 6? It’s a question that has baffled school boards.

“That’s the question many of us have been asking,” Daly said, adding he hopes the government’s new emphasis on math makes the change everyone wants.

Figueiredo also wants the answer. He believes one of the reasons could be the curriculum in Grades 4 through 6.

“As soon as they hit the junior grades, the curriculum does become very robust in terms of the number of expectations to cover ... and it becomes more complex,” he said.

Reading and writing

Considerably more Grade 3 and 6 students at both Hamilton school boards meet expectations in reading and writing, but the public board is still below the provincial average while the Catholic board comes in above.

At HWCDSB, 80 per cent of Grade 3 students and 83 per cent of sixth grade students met the provincial expectations in reading, while 76 per cent of Grade 3 students and 86 per cent of sixth grade students made the grade in writing last school year. In 2018-19, the public board saw 67 per cent of students meet the provincial expectations in reading and 59 per cent in writing in Grade 3, and 73 per cent of students made the grade in both reading and writing in Grade 6.

The provincial average for Grade 3 was 74 per cent for reading and 69 per cent for writing, and 81 per cent and 82 per cent for Grade 6 last school year.