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13 · Friday, October 21, 2011 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.insideHALTON.com Public board working to boost student achievement By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF After having recently received data from last year's provincial Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) testing, the public school board is working to improve student achievement. The Halton District School Board is currently creating a Board Improvement Plan for all its grades, from Kindergarten to Grade 12. The plan will focus on four areas of achievement. They are literacy, numeracy, pathways, and safety and wellbeing. EQAO tests measure, reading, writing and math in Grades 3 and 6, and Grade 9 math. The Ontario Secondary School Literacy Testing (OSSLT) tests literacy in Grade 10. The results are based on how many students achieve the required grade to pass the test. Though the public board results reveal more of its students pass the tests in every category than is the provincial average, there are some areas that need to be improved. For example, there is a gender gap for literacy achievement. Approximately 10 per cent more girls achieve the provincial standard in literacy in every age group, though the gap shortens to seven per cent at the OSSLT. The gap is all but non-existent for mathematics testing. Furthermore, students enrolled in English Language Learning (ELL) also have a lower achievement rate, though the gap has closed significantly in recent years, to be near the board level at nearly every age group and test category. Special needs students who are not identified as gifted, scored results far below the board average -- though those achievement rates have improved over the past five years. Associate director Jeff Blackwell told trustees at the Wednesday, Oct. 19 meeting that the board has put a greater emphasis on improving its ELL programming, which likely resulted in students in the program faring well in the testing. The improvement plan was developed by first looking at data, which in this case were the EQAO results. The board then built a strategic plan, followed by an operational plan. This led to creating a focus and initiative at the board level, the staff level and for the students. The OSSLT results showed that 88 per cent of students in the academic program passed their tests, while 58 per cent of the students in the applied program passed their tests. The tests are similar, according to Director of LET CHARTWELL CLASSIC OAKVILLE HELP YOU ESCAPE WINTER Spend your winter with us. A winter stay at a Chartwell residence is like a vacation from winter! Leave the shoveling and winter worries to us. Enjo n y delicious meals, great company n and daily activities in a place you will feel right at home. And with our private shuttle, outings are a stress free ride on the winter roads. Teaching 21st Century Skills Gle~burnie Scªool OPEN HOUSE Saturday, October 29th 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Grade 7/8 High School Preparation Enriched quality educational programming Exceptional Music, Fine Arts, Drama Classes Strong focus on organizational and skill development in Reading, Writing, Mathematics, Science & Technology Full school facilities Tours and entrance testing by appointment Call today for your personal visit and complimentary lunch in our dining room! *Short term stays are available for a minimum of 30 days, unless otherwise approved. Prices effective until December 2011. RATES STARTING AT ONLY $ GRADE 7/8 STUDENTS CAN EARN MINISTRY APPROVED HIGH SCHOOL COURSE CREDITS 8TH ANNUAL PERFORMING ARTS CHALLENGE 85 00 PER DAY TALENT CONTEST Saturday, November 26th, 2011 Competition t Categories: Vocal, Instrumental, Dance and Variety t Please call for Registration Information 2035 Upper Middle Road East, East Oakville (Ford Drive / Q.E.W.) (905) 338-6236 www.glenburnieschool.com Call Jamie at 905-257-0095 180 Oak Park Blvd., Oakvil v le Visit us online at www.chartwellreit.ca