Bluewater school board achieves higher results in 2016-17 EQAO testing

The latest standardized test results released by the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) show an increase in most areas for Bluewater District School Board.

In the 2016017 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 math achievement results improved by four per cent and primary writing results rose by two per cent.

In the junior division (Grades 4–6), reading achievement results improved by one per cent, junior writing results decreased slightly by a percentage point, and junior math increased by two per cent.

The Grade 9 academic math achievement results remained strong but unchanged, while Grade 9 applied math results improved slightly by one percentage point, once again surpassing the provincial average.

The Grade 10 Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test achievement results also reflected a significant improvement, up by four per cent 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 per cent closely aligns with the provincial rate.

“We are pleased and encouraged by Bluewater’s improvements in almost every area of the latest EQAO assessments," says Paul Hambleton, superintendent of education. "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."