Supplied by the Huron Superior Catholic District School Board…
Sault Ste. Marie: Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board (HSCDSB) students continue to
approach scores of provincial standard on the annual Education Quality and Accountability Office
(EQAO) standardized tests. These assessments were conducted in the 2017-2018 school year in
Grades 3, 6, 9 and 10 and assess reading, writing and mathematics.
In the Grade 9 assessment of mathematics, the success rate for students in the applied course
increased dramatically by 21 per cent, and was slightly above provincial standard. With a significant
rise of 12 per cent, students in the academic course reached a success rate of 81 per cent.
“The Renewed Math Strategy has afforded teachers opportunities to intentionally co-plan, to develop
rich authentic tasks and to provide increased differentiated support. Implementation of these
strategies has had a definite positive impact on student achievement. We are very proud of the
continuing efforts of our dedicated teachers to meet the needs of our students,” said Judy Ritza,
Catholic Curriculum Coordinator for Grade 7-12.
Results from Grade 6 testing show increases in two of the three categories. In reading, the results
showed a three per cent increase from 81 to 84 per cent success rate. Writing results increased four
per cent to an 81 per cent success rate. Both HSCDSB results were higher than the provincial
standard. In mathematics, the Board saw in increase of two per cent for Grade 6 students.
“We are very excited about the success rates for our Grade 6 cohort. The results show that the work
our educators have been doing to ensure literacy and numeracy are system-wide priorities is
succeeding. We will continue to track the progress and achievement of individual students,” said
Micaela Mansfield, Catholic Curriculum Coordinator for Kindergarten to Grade 6.
In Grade 3, the Board’s success rate in reading was 67 per cent, writing was 61 per cent and
mathematics was 43 per cent.

In the Grade 10 Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test, students in the academic level achieved an 87 per cent success rate, which is close to the provincial standard. Students in the applied level had a 26 per cent success rate, which was below the provincial success rate of 39 per cent.
“We’re pleased to see tremendous growth of our EQAO results for our Grade 6 and Grade 9 cohorts, but our results show there is more work to do in other areas,” said Superintendent of Education, Maria Esposito.
“It is gratifying to see that our Renewed Math Strategy has been a success and we will continue with the strategy to ensure that our students have sufficient supports. We are very grateful for everyone’s hard work in service of student achievement and well-being,” added Esposito.
HSCDSB staff considers a wide range of data, both at the board and school level, which includes examining EQAO assessment results, identifying student learning strengths, and targeting areas where more focused attention and resources are required.