By Blake Ellis
Local Journalism Initiative
The Petrolia Independent
The results of the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) testing in the latest round of the provincial tests have shown improvements for students in Chatham-Kent.
However, some pupils are still struggling to meet Ministry of Education standards – particularly at the elementary level.
Both the public and separate school board saw improvements in the recently released results in a number of areas.
The St. Clair Catholic District School Board saw a two-per-cent increase over the previous year’s result in Grade 3 reading, with 72 per cent of students achieving at or above the provincial standard; a two-per-cent increase in writing, with 63 per cent at or above average; and a five-per-cent increase in math, with 59 per cent of students at or above the provincial average.
A total of 65 per cent of public board students read at or above the provincial average – up four per cent. Fifty-five per cent of students write at or above the standard and 53 per cent are at or above the provincial standard in math – a three-per-cent increase.
St. Clair saw a one-per-cent decrease in reading in Grade 6, with 85 per cent of students achieving at or above the provincial standard; a three-per-cent increase in writing and an eight-per-cent increase in math, for a total of 47 per cent at or above the provincial standards.
The Lambton-Kent District School Board also saw a one-per-cent decrease in Grade 6 reading for a total of 78 per cent, with a two-per-cent increase in writing for a total of 78 per-cent and a nine-per-cent increase in math for a total of 42 per cent.
St. Clair had a one-per-cent increase for Grade 9 math, with a total of 47 per cent of students achieving at least a grade of 70 per cent or above. In the same category, the LKDSB had no change in its result, as 34 per cent achieved at least a 70-per-cent grade.
There was a seven-per-cent increase in the success rate for St. Clair students taking the Grade 10 Ontario secondary school literacy test, for a total of 88 per cent having success.
The success rate for Lambton Kent students taking the same test was 78 per cent, which was a two-per-cent increase over the previous school year.
• With files from Pam Wright, Chatham Voice/Local Journalism Initiative.
