The real impact of EQAO

Many students and teachers in Windsor-Essex County say they are not concerned with the postponement of the Grade 9 provincial math assessment.

Every year, standardized tests are administered to students at certain grade levels across the province. The Education Quality and Accountability Office “creates and administers large-scale assessments to measure Ontario students’ achievement in reading, writing and math at key stages of their education.” But these tests may not have the desired impact on the educational system.

This year, due to a union conflict, the Grade 9 assessment was postponed at the public school board until June. This decision raised concerns for some individuals who feared the change could affect the educational system as a whole. However, this does not seem to be the case for most students and teachers.

Jenna Mongeau has been a math teacher in the public school board for more than 10 years and has administered the EQAO test three times.

“I do not believe that EQAO has a true impact on a student’s education. The test itself merely provides a number to depict how students perform on a two day rigorous test,” said Mongeau. 

“I believe my job as a math teacher is to deliver the curriculum expectations to my students in the best way I feel is fitting and EQAO has no contributing factors in that.” 

While the public school board has postponed the EQAO, the French Catholic School Board Conseil Scolaire Catholique Providence chose not to wait. 

Cayleigh Wharram, a high school student from E.J. Lajeunesse, took the EQAO Grade 9 math assessment on Jan. 13 and said she is not concerned with her results affecting her own grades.

“The EQAO that I wrote doesn’t  impact me because it reflects the teachers and it helps with the next students who write it. The only ones (EQAO results) that I believe would impact me are the ones that were written before me,” said Wharram.