Trustees fret over poor maths scores at Thames Valley schools: ‘Unacceptable’

Dismal math scores in some local classrooms have Thames Valley District school board trustees demanding to know whether or not a plan intended to help boost students’ grades is actually working.

Article content

At one school in the London-based board, only six per cent of Grade 6 pupils’ Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) math performance met or exceeded provincial expectations, a “completely unacceptable” result, trustee Marianne Larsen said.

“This is a concern of a number of trustees,” she said at a debate this week, “specifically, what are we doing to support these schools?”

Here’s the percentage of Thames Valley EQAO students who meet provincial math standards:

• 59 per cent of Grade 3 pupils
• 48 per cent of Grade 6 pupils
• 47 per cent of Grade 9 students

Here’s the percentage of Ontario EQAO students who meet provincial math standards:

• 61 per cent of Grade 3 pupils
• 50 per cent of Grade 6 students
• 54 per cent of Grade 9 students

Article content

EQAO standardized tests assess how well pupils in Ontario’s public education system are doing in reading, writing and math.

Ontario’s education ministry has identified 62 schools, including 53 elementary schools, across Thames Valley as “math priority schools” based on last year’s EQAO results, according to a staff report detailing Thames Valley’s “math action plan.”

“The intention of the plan is that it will improve grades in the provincial assessment,” superintendent Sheila Builder said. “(I’m here) to provide a report to trustees about what we are specifically doing to support our priority schools. . . what we’re doing to get those scores up”

The plan resulting from a 2023 investment by Queen’s Park of $71.8 million includes professional learning for educators and administrators, digital tools to track math achievement and a website offering math support, Builder said.

Article content

The board must report student achievement data to Queen’s Park three times a year, with the first set due Nov. 15, she said. But Larsen said trustees have no idea “if all these wonderful things you propose are working at all” to help students.

“They may, they may not – once we know, we will be able to pivot very quickly,” she said.

Interim education director Bill Tucker said long-term trends show the board “is moving in the right direction.” But he suggests senior school board leaders need to take a more active role to support teachers.

Larsen said there needs to “a shift in the narrative” when it comes to learning math.

“We always hear people say: ‘I’m not good at math,’” she said. “Really what we needed to be doing is a whole shift of thinking.”

Not all Thames Valley schools posted poor EQAO math scores, she added, noting one classroom scored 100 per hundred last year. “They’re doing something right there.”

Trustees will meet with school math administrators in February to check if the math action plan is improving scores.

[email protected]

@HeatheratLFP

Article content