April 30th, 2013

EQAO Assessments are also referred to as Grade 3 and 6 testing. They are standardized tests for all students in Grade 3 and 6 in Elementary schools.  The website, www.eqao.com has a wide variety of resources for schools, teachers, parents and educators.  The assessment consists of 3 booklets; Language 1, Language 2 and Mathematics.  There are a variety of activities and types of questions.  The assessment is designed to be completed in 6 hours, in one hour chunks.  Student with special needs can have accommodations and specialized test formats.  Today’s EQAO is much like the kind of instruction that teachers would be doing, except that it is individual student work.  The testing has evolved over the years.  It is manageable for teachers and students. This year the window for administering the test is May 27 to June 7, 2013. The assessment booklets are collected and sent back to EQAO for central marking by recruited teachers. In the fall, the student’s scores are sent home from EQAO.  School results are published too.  This lets schools know where their students are achieving and where they need support.  This informs school success planning and other planning by teachers.