THUNDER BAY -- Less than half of Thunder Bay's Grade 6 students met or exceeded the provincial math standard during last year’s Education Quality and Accountability Office standardized testing.
The Lakehead District School Board had 40 per cent of their students achieve either a Level 3 or 4, while the Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board had 45 per cent of their students make the grade, both below the provincial rate of 49 per cent.
Sherri-Lynne Pharand, the public board's superintendent of education, acknowledged math has been a concern across the province for the last number of years.
“We find it fascinating that it’s not quite the same challenge in Grade 3 or Grade 9. There is a gap when the learning in math shifts from the really concrete materials and the really concrete number sense that’s in the primary up until the end of Grade 3 into the more abstract ideas that begin to really take shape in grades 4-6,” Pharand said on Thursday.
“We’re really looking at how is it that we help kids to make that jump from the concrete into the more abstract concepts of mathematics and what is it we need to do instructionally in order to help them get there.”
School board officials have been working with math experts from across the province to identify strategies to help students, Pharand said, adding she remains optimistic there will be improvement over the coming years.
Pharand also pointed out that for students who fall short of the standard, the results don't show how close they are to making the grade.
“One of the things we do is we take a look at where exactly the students are. We’ve found in our system that a lot of them are between 2.7 and 2.9 so they’re right there. They’re in a high 60 (per cent),” Pharand said.
“For us, what that does is to tell us that although they’re not all the way there yet, they have some solid knowledge of the concepts. We just have to be able to take those steps to help them really solidify and get over the level.”
Since having 47 per cent of students meet the standard in 2014-2014, the public board has failed to exceed 40 per cent during each of the last three years of testing.
The Catholic board had a second straight year below 50 per cent, after having 59 per cent of their students achieve the standard in 2015-2016. The provincial average was 61 per cent.
Charlene Cavanagh, the Catholic board’s director of elementary programs, said the results show just a snapshot of how students performed on those specific tests on that day.
“We consider that data and look at it very carefully but we also look at assessment that is going on in the classroom as well because the teacher really knows their kids quite well,” Cavanagh said.
Both boards were also below provincial averages for students at or above the Grade 3 math standard, though the public board jumped to 55 per cent, a five per cent increase from the previous year. The Catholic Board had their lowest rate in the past five years at 59 per cent.
Cavanagh said the board is optimistic fundamental math focus the new provincial government is planning will support teachers and students.
“We’re working with the teachers and putting supports in the classroom so teachers can meet kids where they’re at,” Cavanagh said.
“We’re looking at math from a developmental point of view. You have to lay down some structures and some concepts to move on in math all the time. We’re looking at the ways we can do that with kids and how we assess them and how we present work to them.”
EQAO results:
Grade 3
Reading
Lakehead District School Board: 70 per cent
Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board: 75 per cent
Ontario: 75 per cent
Writing
Lakehead District School Board: 66 per cent
Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board: 71 per cent
Ontario: 72 per cent
Mathematics
Lakehead District School Board: 55 per cent
Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board: 59 per cent
Ontario: 61 per cent
Grade 6
Reading
Lakehead District School Board: 79 per cent
Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board: 82 per cent
Ontario: 82 per cent
Writing
Lakehead District School Board: 75 per cent
Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board: 74 per cent
Ontario: 80 per cent
Mathematics
Lakehead District School Board: 40 per cent
Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board: 45 per cent
Ontario: 49 per cent
Grade 9
Applied Math
Lakehead District School Board: 35 per cent
Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board: 53 per cent
Ontario: 45 per cent
Academic Math
Lakehead District School Board: 83 per cent
Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board: 78 per cent
Ontario: 84 per cent
