Trillium Lakelands District School Board students are testing at, or above, the provincial average in four of eight core study areas at both the elementary and secondary level.
Every fall, the Education Quality and Assessment Office (EQAO) releases annual results for testing completed during the previous school year, providing a snapshot of how Highlands’ students are doing compared to youth from other regions. The results are for the whole board, not County schools.
Students in Grades 3 and 6 are quizzed on their reading, writing and mathematics abilities, while Grade 9 students are tested in math only. Students in Grade 10 are assessed via the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT).
The County’s earliest learners are performing well, said superintendent Jay MacJanet, who looks after programming for Kindergarten to Grade 8. He noted Grade 3 students all tested over the provincial average in 2023/24, with 76 per cent reading at a Level 3 or 4 standard. This improved one per cent from the 2022/23 school year and is up six per cent from 2021/22. Provincially, 71 per cent of students are reading at an acceptable level.
The board’s Grade 3 writing results dipped one per cent from 2022/23, with 67 per cent of students at Level 3 and 4, though that was still ahead of the provincial average of 64 per cent. There were major strides in math testing, with 69 per cent of TLDSB students meeting expectations – a four per cent rise from last year, and 13 per cent increase from two years ago. The provincial average is 61 per cent.
There’s some literacy work to do at the Grade 6 level at TLDSB – 81 per cent of students are at or above the provincial average for reading, a two per cent drop from 2022/23 and down three per cent from 2021/22. The provincial average is 82 per cent.
On the writing side, 79 per cent are at a Level 3 or 4 standard – exactly in line with the provincial average. There was improvement in math too – 49 per cent of TLDSB students are where they need to be, up two per cent from last year and nine per cent from two years ago.
MacJanet said the introduction of classroom coaches in 2023 was a big reason for the improvements at local elementary schools. One of the benefits, he said, is coaches can support students in one-on-one instruction or small group settings to ensure they’re understanding assignments.
All elementary schools within TLDSB have daily access to a teaching and learning coach, while HHSS had a full-time coach to support Grade 9 students in 2023/24.
“These coaches work closely with administrators and classroom teachers on school specific goals… and work in classrooms to support capacity building, which in turn supports the student’s success,” MacJanet said.
Students are performing below the provincial average at TLDSB’s seven high schools. Around 47 per cent of students are at Level 3 or 4, down three per cent from last year and seven per cent under the provincial average.
The board reported 84 per cent of students passed the OSSLT, just one per cent off the provincial average. Particularly impressive, notes superintendent Kim Williams, is that 96 per cent of students enrolled in academic classes passed the literacy test – a nice bump over the provincial average of 90 per cent.
She said classroom coaches had a positive impact on applied-level students, with 67 per cent passing the literacy test – 11 per cent more than the provincial average.
“Coaches add an extra layer of support to help build content knowledge, gather and analyze data, and use that information to improve teaching and learning,” Williams said. “We believe these coaches had an impact on student achievement, as well as with teacher confidence.”
