An open letter to all Ontario taxpayers and families;

Millions of our tax dollars are being wasted each year on the Grade 9 EQAO math testing. I would like to draw attention to this fact and make a call for the testing to be halted or dramatically revamped to the benefit of our students. My somewhat unique access as a Grade 9 math teacher the last few years provides me with insights that I must share with the taxpaying public.

According to the Education Quality and Accountability Office’s (EQAO) own website, they are tasked with, among other things, “empowering educators, parents, … with the insights and information needed to support student learning and improve student outcomes.” I argue that the Grade 9 EQAO Math test is a spectacular failure with respect to this goal. From my perspective, it appears to provide zero benefit to any students and instead is a complete waste of taxpayer’s money.

--- EQAO Background ---

Since the late 90s, EQAO, a government funded entity, has been creating and administering “standardized” tests written by students in grades 3, 6, 9 and 10. The Grade 9 test is in mathematics only. While I have never liked the amount of money and time that goes into the administration of these tests, I have always valued the test content in supporting my understanding of what the province’s standard is for Grade 9 math. Recently, there were substantial changes made to the Grade 9 math testing which have left me, and many other educators, feeling that there is no longer any value provided in administering the tests.

--- The new Math test is no longer standardized ---

In September 2022, the Ontario government rolled out a new Grade 9 mathematics curriculum, and alongside it, a new EQAO math test structure that all grade 9 students in the province would have to undertake during their math courses. The mathematics assessment is now administered online, using an “adaptive” model, meaning the online test essentially looks for areas a child struggles and offers them easier problems. "Did you get that fraction problem wrong? Here’s a much easier one for you to do. There, now you are passing."

Since the test adapts to each participant, the results can no longer be compared from student to student, let alone from school to school. Some families use EQAO data when choosing a school or neighbourhood to move into, which is dependent on the standardized and comparable nature of the assessment. Yet, quietly that has changed and I’m not sure people are aware of it.

--- Students do not fail the Grade 9 Math EQAO ---

The new math test seems to always give students a passing grade. Every math educator I have spoken with has found the same result: every student earns at least a Level 1 (out of 4), with Level 3 being the provincial standard. A level 1 corresponds to a 50-59% score, which is a passing grade.

There is a category for “Not enough evidence to assign a Level 1,” but even still, this category remains rarely or completely unused. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence from math teachers I’ve spoken with which describe situations where students who struggled to earn 30% in class throughout their math course were able to “earn” a Level 1 or even Level 2 on the EQAO assessment, even if they completed the 150 minute assessment in under 20 minutes. Perhaps the students hid their understanding from their teachers very well; perhaps EQAO wants to create false data to support their own existence; or perhaps the government wants false data created to show how successful their new curriculum is (which it really isn’t – though that is separate conversation).

--- Neither Teachers nor Students receive any useful feedback ---

The only feedback received from EQAO is a single grade per student, often very disconnected from what the student can demonstrate in the classroom. As educators, we are given no indication what concepts the student demonstrated success in, or even what kinds of math questions they were asked. There is no way we can use this data to affect any kind of change or improvement in our programming. There is no way the students can use this data to inform them in what areas of math they can improve. Remember EQAO’s goal of “empowering educators … with the insights and information needed to support student learning and improve student outcomes.”?

On top of adding no value, the testing actually takes away from each student’s learning experience. The testing typically requires about 4 hours of instructional time to administer, although students are allowed to take as much time as they want. Instead of spending this time teaching, or doing one on one conferences with students, or any of the other things we can do to support learning, teachers watch students click through a multiple choice test… and learn nothing. We give EQAO an F in meeting their goal. If teachers gave students feedback the way EQAO did, we would surely fail our teaching evaluations. Somehow, they managed to take the “Accountability” (A), the “Quality” (Q), and even some “Education” (E) out of EQAO. I cannot understand why, as taxpayers, we are paying for this.

--- EQAO is expensive ---

According to EQAO’s 2022-23 annual report, the cost of agency operations last year was $25.35 million . I’m not sure how much of that money is specifically connected to the math assessment, but at a time when education funding has been reduced by 2.7 billion dollars (since 2018, considering student enrollment and inflation ), it doesn’t seem appropriate to be throwing away millions. There are healthier ways this wasted money could be spent in the education system.

We cannot rely on Grade 9 Math EQAO for anything to do with Quality or Accountability. There is no value provided to students, educators or the public at large, at great expense to the taxpayer.

Please join us in reaching out to your local MPP to ask the government to scrap the Grade 9 Math EQAO test. Our education funding is scant and therefore precious; it must be used to help students in tangible ways, not undermine our children’s education or provide false data about that education.