THUNDER BAY -- Students under the Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board banner continue to perform above the provincial standard in reading, writing and mathematics.
Results from the Education Quality and Accountability Office’s 2016 standardized tests show the opposite is true at Lakehead Public Schools.
According to the date, in Grade 3, 77 per cent of Catholic board students perform at or above the provincial standard in reading at levels three and four, with just 69 per cent of public school board students hitting the mark. The Ontario average is 72 per cent.
The numbers look similar in the writing category, with 81 per cent of Catholic board students meeting or exceeding the level three or four standard and only 69 per cent of Lakehead Public Schools students. The average across the province is 74 per cent.
When it comes to mathematics, 66 per cent of Catholic board students are at or above the provincial standard, 14 percentage points more than public school students. The Ontario average is at 63 per cent.
A similar pattern emerges in Grade 6, though a higher percentage of students reach or exceed the standard in the reading and writing categories at both boards.
Eighty-nine per cent of Catholic board students meet or beat the reading standard of 81 per cent, with 75 per cent of Lakehead Public Schools students crossing the threshold.
The Catholic board edges the public board 88 per cent to 74 per cent in the reading category, where 80 per cent on average hit it province-wide.
The numbers are more dire in mathematics for the public board, where just 36 per cent hit the standard, compared to 60 per cent of Catholic board students. Schools in the province on average have a 50 per cent success rate.
Both boards beat the Grade 9 provincial average at level three and four in the academic mathematics stream, 86 per cent of TBCDSB students and 84 per cent of Lakehead Public Schools student hitting the mark, compared to 83 per cent across Ontario.
In applied math, 52 per cent of Catholic board students were better than the provincial average of 45 per cent, with just 36 per cent of public board students.
Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board director of education said his schools rank among the highest in the province.
‘This is a clear indication that our staff, students and families understand the importance of a quality education,” Pino Tassone said in a release issued on Tuesday.
