Halton, York schools nab top scores in Grade 10 literacy test
June 16, 2010
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Kristin Rushowy
EDUCATION REPORTER
Halton and York region schools remain at the top of the class on provincial Grade 10 literacy tests, with pass rates exceeding the Ontario average as well as other Greater Toronto boards.
The Halton Catholic District School Board saw 92 per cent of students pass the test; the Halton public and York Catholic boards were next, with 90 per cent.
Some 89 per cent of teens in the York Region District School Board made the grade.
Across Ontario, the average was 84 per cent.
“Our students continue to demonstrate high levels of achievement in this provincial assessment,” said Michael Pautler, the Halton Catholic board’s director of education. “It is through the collaborative work of our elementary and secondary principals, teachers, support staff, students, parents, senior administration and board personnel that our board is able to achieve results above the provincial average.”
Jacqueline Herman, a superintendent of education, attributed the strong results to “cross-curricular literacy instruction, the provision of appropriate resources and job-embedded learning opportunities, combined with the commitment of our dedicated staff who recognize that each child is unique in his/her learning.”
In Peel, 84 per cent of students in public high schools were successful, and in the Dufferin-Peel Catholic board 86 per cent were. The Durham Catholic and public boards posted 85 and 84 per cent pass rates, respectively.
The two Toronto boards continued to lag among their counterparts in the suburbs, with 83 per cent of Catholic teens passing and 81 per cent of those in the public high schools, the lowest rate in Greater Toronto.
Passing the Grade 10 literacy test, created and administered by the Education Quality and Accountability Office, is mandatory for a high school diploma. Students are not assigned a grade for their reading and writing skills, but rather a pass or fail.
Students who flunk it the first time around may write it again or complete a makeup literacy course.
To view school-by-school results, go to eqao.com
GTA results
The 2010 Grade 10 literacy test pass rate in Greater Toronto school boards, from highest to lowest:
Halton Catholic: 92
Halton public: 90
York Catholic: 90
York public: 89
Dufferin-Peel Catholic: 86
Durham Catholic: 85
Provincial average: 84
Durham public: 84
Peel public: 84
Toronto Catholic: 83
Toronto public: 81
Source: Education Quality and Accountability Office, eqao.com