The latest standardized test results released by the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) are showing an increase in most areas for Bluewater District School Board.
In the 2016 – 2017 Assessments of Reading, Writing and Mathematics, which took place this past spring, the number of Bluewater students in the Primary Division (Grades 1 – 3) who met or exceeded the provincial standard was higher in each area of the assessment. Both Primary Reading and Mathematics achievement results improved by 4 percent and Primary Writing results rose by 2 percentage points.
In the Junior Division (Grades 4 – 6), Reading achievement results improved by 1 percent; Junior Writing results decreased slightly by a percentage point; and Junior Mathematics increased by 2 percent.
The Grade 9 Academic Mathematics achievement results remained strong but unchanged, while Grade 9 Applied Mathematics results improved slightly by 1 percentage point, once again surpassing the provincial average.
The Grade 10 Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) achievement results also reflected a significant improvement, up by 4 percentage points over the previous year.
Bluewater's five-year graduation rate has also continued to steadily increase since the early 2000s. The latest rate of 83.8% closely aligns with the provincial rate.
"We are pleased and encouraged by Bluewater's improvements in almost every area of the latest EQAO assessments. For the past several years, we have been experiencing an overall upward trend in our results. While we closely align with the provincial average in many areas, we are firmly committed to continuing our hard work to ensure that we increase the rates of success and narrow existing gaps across all grade levels in mathematics and literacy," says Superintendent of Education Paul Hambleton.
