Grade 9 math scores remain steady locally

EQAO results for Grade 9 tests in mathematics were released last week, with students in the Rainy River District School Board remaining fairly consistent in their results.
The board is responsible for three high schools: Fort Frances High School, Atikokan High School, and Rainy River High School.
In the academic program, 65 percent of the board’s 288 Grade 9 students met or exceeded the provincial standard in math.
This is six percent lower than the provincial average, but the same as the results for 2004/05 and 2003/04.
In the first year of EQAO math testing for Grade 9 in 2002/03, 63 percent of students met or exceeded the provincial standard.
In the applied program, 32 percent of students scored at or above the provincial standard. That’s three percent below the provincial average, but one percent above last year’s results for the board.
Students in the applied program have made considerable improvement since the first year of EQAO math testing for Grade 9 in 2002/03, when only 19 percent met or exceeded the provincial standard.
The following year, 21 percent reached that goal.
“This continued growth is due to the work of intermediate teachers who identify and employ best practices in math instruction, as well as to the efforts of the ‘Student Success’ initiative which helps to ensure that students elect the math course that best fits their destination and needs,” said Heather Campbell, the board’s superintendent of education.
“While we have shown growth, especially in the applied math results, we realize that more work needs to be done,” she added.
Taken alone, Fort High showed slightly better results, with 70 percent of students in the academic program scoring at or above the provincial standard—a two percent increase from last year and only one percent below the provincial average.
Thirty-four percent of students in the applied program met or exceeded the provincial standard—also up two percent from last year and only one percent below the provincial average.