Only 50% of Grade 6 students met the province's math standard

Half of all Grade 6 students in Ontario did not meetthe provincial math standard this year, continuing a steady declinein test scores over the past seven years.

Standardized test results for elementary school students releasedWednesday by the province's Education Quality and AccountabilityOffice show that while reading results are improving, math resultsare getting worse.

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It echoes some national findings, as the Organisation forEconomic Co-operation and Development has found that math scores for15 year olds in Canada have "significantly declined" between 2003and 2012, though Ontario fares relatively well when compared toother provinces.

Math educators have been engaged in ongoing debates on whetherstudents benefit more from rote learning or a more discovery-based,problem solving approach.

This year in Ontario only 50 per cent of Grade 6 students met themath standard, compared to 58 per cent in 2012. The Grade 3 mathresults showed a decline too, with 63 per cent of students meetingthe provincial standard, compared to68 per cent in 2012.

In the past 10 years the highest percentage of Grade 6 studentsmeeting the standard was 63 in the 2008-09 school year, while forGrade 3 students it was 71 per cent in 2009-10. The scores havesteadily fallen since then.

The EQAO said that 21 per cent of students who met the standardin Grade 3, failed to do so in Grade 6. And just four per cent ofstudents who didn't meet the math standard in Grade 3 were able toachieve it as Grade 6 students.

New math strategy to commence in fall

Education Minister Mitzie Hunter was not available for interviewsWednesday, but released a statement touting a new math strategy thatis being introduced this school year.

"(It) will provide improved access to online math resources suchas Homework Help or SOS Devoir, dedicated math leads in everyelementary school, professional learning for educators and schoolleaders, and providing students with better supports outside of theschool day such as tutoring and summer 'reach-ahead'opportunities," she wrote.

"Improving student success remains our highest priority, and weare committed to ensuring that all students achieve their fullpotential."

The $60-million plan puts an average of 60 minutes per day of"protected math learning time" in the curriculum for Grades 1through 8. It also designates up to three "math lead teachers" inall elementary schools and a dedicated mathprofessional developmentday.

The EQAO's CEO said he is hopeful the new strategy "will startturning these math trends around."

Grade 9 math results were steady compared to 2012, with 83 percent of those in the academic math course meeting the standard and45 per cent in the applied course meeting it. The government notedthat the applied math scores have significantly improved since 2003,when 21 per cent of the students were meeting the standard.

Meanwhile, students fared better on the reading tests, with 72per cent of Grade 3 students meeting the standard, up from 66 percent in 2012, and 81 per cent of Grade 6 students met the standard,up from 75 per cent in 2012.

The percentage of Grade 3 students who met the writing standardticked slightly lower, to 74 per cent this year from 76 per cent in2012. This was the first time that 80 per cent of Grade 6 studentsmet the provincial writing standard, which is an improvement from 74per cent in 2012.