Grade 10 students from the Sudbury Catholic District School Board continue to score well on Ontario Secondary School Literacy Tests (OSSLT) written in March 2007. The Board’s overall success rate of 89 percent for “Fully Participating Students” was consistent with previous scores surpassing the Provincial average of 84 percent. Marymount Academy lead the charge with a 100 percent success rate for “Fully Participating Students” followed closely by St. Benedict CSS with 91 percent, St. Charles College with 88 percent and Bishop Carter CSS with an 83 percent pass rate.

The OSSLT, introduced in 2002, measures whether students are meeting the minimum standard for literacy across all subjects to the end of Grade 9, according to the expectations set out in The Ontario Curriculum. Meeting this standard is a requirement for obtaining an Ontario Secondary School Diploma and positions students for success in their life beyond high school.

Rossella Bagnato, Interim Director of Education for the Sudbury Catholic Board is thrilled with the efforts of her students. “We are extremely pleased with the test results of our
Grade 10 students,” stated Bagnato. “The results from the Province of Ontario’s EQAO Assessment testing indicate that our OSSLT plan is working and reflects admirably on our students, teachers, principals and parents.”

Paula Peroni, Chair of the Sudbury Catholic Board is also encouraged by the Literacy Test results stating that, “Our mandate as trustees in conjunction with senior administration at the Board has always been and will continue to be, to provide our students with the tools ands resources that they require to receive the best education possible. The very fact that our secondary schools show an 89 percent pass rate which is 5 percent higher than the Provincial average is proof that we are on the right track and will continue to improve on these results.”

Full details of these results are available at www.eqao.com.

The Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) has released the results of the Grades 3 and 6 reading, writing and mathematics tests and the Grade 9 academic and applied mathematics tests written by Ontario students during the 2005–2006 school year.

Officials at the Sudbury Catholic District School Board are pleased with the results of their students with respect to the 2005-2006 Grade 3, 6 and 9 Provincial test results in reading, writing, and mathematics. From 2002 until 2006, the percentage of the Board’s Grade 3 and 6 students that have met or surpassed the provincial standards continues to increase. Grade 3 test results improved from 45% to 51% in reading, 47% to 49% in writing and 54% to 56% in math over the four-year period. The Grade 6 test results were equally impressive demonstrating gains from 61% to 66% in reading, 53% to 58% in writing and 52% to 54% in math.

The positive trend in EQAO results was also demonstrated by the Sudbury Catholic District School Board’s Grade 9 students who wrote the Provincial math tests. Test scores indicate that the percentage of students that met or surpassed the provincial standard increased from 71% to 78% in the academic math and from 27% to 45% in the applied math from 2002 until 2006.

Paula Peroni, Chair of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board is encouraged with the recent test results. “In the last four years our Board has witnessed an increase in the percentage of our Grade 3, 6 and 9 students who have met or surpassed the provincial standards in reading, writing and math,” states Peroni. “Numerous strategies have been put into place this year which we are confident will continue to yield positive results. The overall picture, which includes significant increases in our secondary schools is line with our strategic improvement plan. It is gratifying to see that we have firmly established an upward trend. We are cognizant of the overwhelming efforts of our secondary panel and the solid academic foundation at elementary level which produce these positive results.”

Zandra Zubac, Director of Education for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board is equally optimistic with the latest data. “Recent test scores of our students writing the Grade 3, and 6 provincial tests indicate that we are moving along with the rest of the province with respect to the increasing number of students who scored at or above the provincial level,” states Zubac. “Our secondary school scores exceed the provincial average and we will continue to use our secondary schools as a model for best practices. The strategies that are working well in one school will be used in other schools to yield positive results. The Learning With Laptops program for Grade 9 math was introduced in the spring of 2005. As we enter year 3 of the program, we hope to see continued improvement.”

For detailed results, visit our EQAO section.

On–Ontario’s Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) today announced the results of its annual province-wide tests in
Grades 3, 6 and 9. This year’s provincial report profiles 18 schools that exemplify the many successful learning environments in publicly funded schools in Ontario.

“The profiles confirm that student learning is a shared responsibility,” says Marguerite Jackson, chief executive officer of EQAO. “EQAO is privileged to celebrate and share these school stories and commends the efforts of Ontario educators, parents and members of the public who are working together to ensure that each and every student is a successful learner.”

With respect to the Grade 3 & 6 EQAO Provincial Assessment Results for May 2005, students at the Sudbury Catholic District School Board continue to demonstrate steady and sustainable gains. “When reviewing the EQAO achievement demonstrated by our Grade 3 and 6 students over time, we see improvements made in small but solid increments,” stated Rossella Bagnato, Academic Superintendent of Education for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board. “We must now analyze critically the data that EQAO provides to us along with our school collected data and use the information to inform instructional decisions we make for our students,” concluded Bagnato.

Working as teams, the Board’s principals and teachers have developed professional learning communities that collaborate in all aspects of planning and instruction with the ultimate focus on improving student learning across the whole school. Paula Peroni, Chair of the Sudbury Catholic School Board sees this student focus initiative as the key to the success in the latest test results. “Across the system we have begun the ongoing tracking of individual student achievement in literacy and offer an early intervention reading program for those students who struggle with learning to read along with making assistive technology available through the implementation of wireless laptops for students with special needs,” noted Peroni. “Using the key concepts from Professor Michael Fullan’s research, as a Board we will move ahead slowly, with a purpose, while creating a culture of learning for both students and staff.”

Students in the Sudbury Catholic Board’s Secondary Schools scored equally well in the Grade 9 Provincial Math tests in 2004–2005. Board results indicate that students maintained their scores from last year in the academic program and increased their scores in the applied program. Zandra Zubac, Director of Education for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board introduced the Learning With Laptops One to One Grade 9 Mathematics program in the Board’s four secondary schools last year. “In the second semester of 2005, we embarked upon a process of building a Professional Learning Community with our Grade 9 Math teachers by establishing and maintaining partnerships with companies such as Apple Canada,” stated Zubac. “These kinds of partnerships not only develop resources for our students but also play a vital role in improving student achievement as witnessed in the latest Grade 9 Provincial test results.”