Press Release
The Rainy River District School Board’s results for the 2009 Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test indicate local students continue to perform well in the areas of reading and writing.
Of the 264 Grade 10 students who wrote the test for the first time in April, 84 percent passed both components of the test compared to the provincial success rate of 85 percent.
Although the result is one percent lower than the provincial success rate, the board is pleased with its ability to decrease the number of students deferred while sustaining an excellent success rate.
This year, only five percent of students were deferred, meaning their opportunity to write the test was postponed to another year.
The provincial deferral rate was four percent.
The board also was pleased to note its highest percentage of students fully participating in the test (95 percent compared to 85 percent in 2004).
The OSSLT, introduced in 2002, measures whether students are meeting the minimum standard for literacy across all subjects to the end of Grade 9, according to the expectations set out in the Ontario curriculum.
Successful completion of the OSSLT is one of the 32 compulsory requirements to earn an Ontario Secondary School Diploma.
Students who are unsuccessful on the test in Grade 10 can take it again the next school year, or fulfill the diploma requirement by enrolling in and successfully completing the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course.
The provincial results and further information are available on the EQAO website at www.eqao.com
