April 8th, 2010 is a very important day for Grade 10 students across the province of Ontario. They will write the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) on this day.
This standardized test is one of two such assessments that students write during their tenure in secondary school. The other test is the EQAO Grade 9 Math Assessment. The difference between the two is that students must pass the OSSLT in order to graduate or achieve the literacy requirement by passing the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course in Grade 12 if they fail the test twice.
What is your opinion on standardized tests? Can we fairly and equitably compare literacy scores or math scores for that matter of our students across the province? Detractors would cite that there are too many variables at play like demographics and socio-economics that skew results.
The Halton Catholic District School Board has been either first or second overall in the province of Ontario on the OSSLT. That is quite an accomplishment. Detractors would allude to the fact that our board is also geographically situated in one of the most affluent areas in Ontario.
While this is a generalization, one can't deny the correlation. However, I happen to think that our outstanding results are mainly due to our board's commitment to literacy across the curriculum.
I would like to invite you to take a look at our school improvement plan on our website. It will become obvious that CtK has a very intensive literacy strategy that involves literacy checklists, literacy IEPs, graphic novels, assessments with embedded literacy prompts, a Grade 9 and 10 English program that is modelled after the OSSLT, after school literacy preparation, literacy computer modules, mock literacy tests and so on. It is important to note that our data on student achievement drives the creation of our instructional and assessment strategies. As with anything that we do at CtK, it revolves around meeting the needs of our students to the best of our abilities.
We are blessed with an excellent teaching staff that embraces change and leads by example in many instances. Their dedication to our Catholic Learning Community has yielded excellent results in all of our data indicators including the OSSLT especially over the last three years.
I pray and hope that this contingent of students will be successful this Thursday. It is a stressful time for them.
I have had many discussions with my colleagues over the dedication that all of our schools have with respect to literacy and numeracy. Are we dedicated because it is the right thing to do? Is it the pressure that arises from the province comparing schools and boards that drives us?
Looking forward to hearing your opinion. Thanks for reading.
This standardized test is one of two such assessments that students write during their tenure in secondary school. The other test is the EQAO Grade 9 Math Assessment. The difference between the two is that students must pass the OSSLT in order to graduate or achieve the literacy requirement by passing the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course in Grade 12 if they fail the test twice.
What is your opinion on standardized tests? Can we fairly and equitably compare literacy scores or math scores for that matter of our students across the province? Detractors would cite that there are too many variables at play like demographics and socio-economics that skew results.
The Halton Catholic District School Board has been either first or second overall in the province of Ontario on the OSSLT. That is quite an accomplishment. Detractors would allude to the fact that our board is also geographically situated in one of the most affluent areas in Ontario.
While this is a generalization, one can't deny the correlation. However, I happen to think that our outstanding results are mainly due to our board's commitment to literacy across the curriculum.
I would like to invite you to take a look at our school improvement plan on our website. It will become obvious that CtK has a very intensive literacy strategy that involves literacy checklists, literacy IEPs, graphic novels, assessments with embedded literacy prompts, a Grade 9 and 10 English program that is modelled after the OSSLT, after school literacy preparation, literacy computer modules, mock literacy tests and so on. It is important to note that our data on student achievement drives the creation of our instructional and assessment strategies. As with anything that we do at CtK, it revolves around meeting the needs of our students to the best of our abilities.
We are blessed with an excellent teaching staff that embraces change and leads by example in many instances. Their dedication to our Catholic Learning Community has yielded excellent results in all of our data indicators including the OSSLT especially over the last three years.
I pray and hope that this contingent of students will be successful this Thursday. It is a stressful time for them.
I have had many discussions with my colleagues over the dedication that all of our schools have with respect to literacy and numeracy. Are we dedicated because it is the right thing to do? Is it the pressure that arises from the province comparing schools and boards that drives us?
Looking forward to hearing your opinion. Thanks for reading.
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