EQAO socres and especially
math scores are always a hot topic.
In my area, the Hamilton Wentworth Catholic
District School Board (HWCDSB) release on Sept. 18, 2013, stated that the EQAO
literacy results continue to improve but the math scores have worsened in all
the grades tested (grades 3, 6 and 9). These worsening EQAO math results are
actually reflected throughout the province.
This always raises several questions and
areas for reflection.
I have seen several opinions and discussions put forth as
explanations. One suggestion I found interesting is the notion that the
teacher’s own knowledge of math has become weaker over the years and this is
reflected in the EQAO math scores. I think that in the past several years most
boards have undertaken professional development in math, purchased new
resources and manipulatives, and implemented identified best practices. If so,
I think this underlies the point that there are many wonderful resources and
aids available as we’ve seen but the bottom line is that the “teacher” still
has to teach.
Another point to consider is a review of the math curriculum in
general. Are we teaching to get good EQAO scores as this implies good knowledge
and understanding? Are we teaching to develop life-long problem solving skills
that will extend beyond math and help students in their future career? Are we
doing both? Is that possible?
I know that both boards in Windsor and Essex county have also implemented more math PD days. The faculty of Ed has also done a lot of math PLS sessions and when EdCamp came around I saw a lot more math sessions than any other topic. I am glad that there is a lot of work with teachers going on but I also feel that work on the curriculum needs to take effect. I think that we should be teaching for understanding and problem solving skill. My thoughts are the we should not be teaching to the EQAO test, but that it should test what we are supposed to be teaching. I do however feel that we should be teaching students how to answer multiple choice questions for math. Viewing tests of the students I tutor, I have not seen any multiple choice questions. I think that teaching how to answer m/c questions and how to work with them in math so that when they come up on the EQAO students aren't caught off guard.
ReplyDeleteI love the questions that you have posed. Are we teaching the students to simply be successful on the test scores? Are we teaching them to be successful in life? OR are we doing both? Those are fantastic questions and I think the answer to those vary among the different schools and school boards. There is no doubt that the answer should be the same- that we are simply teaching the students mathematics in a way to make them successful in life. If teachers are able to do that, then they should not have to worry about the test scores- they would take care of themselves.
ReplyDeleteI love the questions that you have posed. Are we teaching the students to simply be successful on the test scores? Are we teaching them to be successful in life? OR are we doing both? Those are fantastic questions and I think the answer to those vary among the different schools and school boards. There is no doubt that the answer should be the same- that we are simply teaching the students mathematics in a way to make them successful in life. If teachers are able to do that, then they should not have to worry about the test scores- they would take care of themselves.
ReplyDelete"Teaching to the test"...sad and probably true. Last year was my first experience with EQAO and it was interesting. Here I am with 2 groups of new grade 9 students coming from different elementary schools with different teachers and different experiences with math. Myself and the other grade 9 teacher had a meeting with our numeracy consultant to help identify areas of concerns and weakness for our students. Multiple choice was one of them among other things. We found that students were not comfortable with the process of elimination and were overwhelmed with the idea that there were multiple options. To help get comfortable with this I made an effort to include multiple choice questions on my test through the semester. In the week leading up to EQAO, we spent time going through previous tests. I felt that this was important because it is difficult to answer a question if we do not understand the question. Since I was not writing the questions, I felt that it was important to review questions that were not written by me. Now for those of you unfamiliar with the timing of EQAO (http://www.eqao.com/en/assessments/administration-dates), it's a combination of the time frame outlined by the link provided and the date selected by your school. I did not have any input on this scheduling and had our test the second week in January after break. I had to make sure that all the curriculum was covered before Christmas to make sure they were prepared for EQAO. Standardized testing is stressful on both students and teachers. It's difficult enough to identify and bridge gaps in their understanding of basic math concepts. Their scores just came out this past September of 2015 and their grade 9 scores were similar to their grade 6 scores. From this experience, I do not feel that the additional stress from the testing is worthwhile. Thanks for reading my rant :)
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