ISSUE FACT SHEET:

GRADE 10 LITERACY TEST AND STUDENT TESTING

"It is the policy of OSSTF that no standardized test should be a mandatory requirement for graduation from Secondary School." ( AMPA 2002, OSSTF Policy 8.6.3)

OSSTF downloadable pamphlet: What's wrong with provincial testing?

• The Grade 10 literacy test is now a graduation requirement for ALL students in Ontario.

• The EQAO Grade 10 literacy test is not a fair measure.

  • The test is not administered consistently across the province. It is impossible to standardize preparation and administration conditions in a standardized test.
  • According to Alfie Kohn, who crusades against standardized tests in the United States, socioeconomic status accounts for "an overwhelming proportion of the variance in test scores".
  • Time is taken away from the regular curriculum in preparing for the test. Student anxiety affects learning in other areas.
• The EQAO Grade 10 literacy test is not a valid measure of student reading and writing.
  • The test is very heavily weighted to writing.
  • Students need over 60% in BOTH reading and writing to pass.
  • No marked tests will be returned. Students who fail receive limited, vague feedback.
  • There are very few funds or opportunities to provide help to students who perform poorly or fail.
  • Instructions for questions are unclear. On a question which asked for one paragraph, students who wrote more than one paragraph failed the question because they did not follow the instructions exactly.
  • EQAO is secretive and will reveal neither the marking criteria nor what constitutes a pass.
• Results were not available to most students by the end of June 2002, too late for any literacy improvement chances over the summer. The next test is only six weeks after school starts in September.
• If students are absent on either day of the test, they will have to rewrite. If students fail only one part of the test, they must rewrite the whole test to get a diploma.
• As more students need to write the test, the disruption will spread to more grades and impact more programs. Next year, instead of 140,000 students writing the test, there will be at least 160,000. This is an additional cost and drain.
• A "one size fits all" test does not suit recent immigrants, special education students, students in remote schools and other students at risk.
• A paper and pencil test does not measure employability skills nor does it encourage creative and critical thinking.
• The cost of last year’s literacy test was $15 million at the same time as there were textbook shortages, and cuts to library, music, guidance, educational assistants and support staff.

• OSSTF is deeply troubled that the Grade 10 literacy test is now a graduation requirement for ALL Ontario students. OSSTF has always argued that the test should be diagnostic only and the focus should be on the remediation and support required for unsuccessful students.
• Members are reminded that they can be asked to administer the test and sign the confidentiality agreement from EQAO.
• Members are strongly reminded that they are under NO obligation to volunteer to mark any EQAO tests Members should carefully consider the cost to their colleagues and students should they agree to mark this literacy test. Members should be aware that by marking this test, or any EQAO test, they are supporting a test culture that hurts students!
• Educate parents, school councils, trustees and the community about the potential dangers of using a standardized test, no matter how well designed, as an absolute requirement for graduation.

FYI:

• The public strongly agrees that the best measure of student academic achievement is classroom work and homework, not one single test required for a diploma.
• There is "virtually unanimous agreement among experts that no single measure should decide a student’s academic fate." Lynn Olsen, Education Week April 5, 2000.
• Alfie Kohn states that the "tests are inherently destructive to learning" and are "squeezing the intellectual life out of the schools". He believes the Grade 10 test is "an illegitimate credentialing device and violates professional standards".
• Special interest groups in Ontario are already planning to misuse the results of the Grade 10 test. The Ottawa Sun editorial of October 12, 2000 noted the test is "another overdue measure" that will provide "a powerful tool for parents to assess how their kids’ schools stack up (and)shop for the best available alternatives". Alfie Kohn noted those who use the test to rank schools are either "malicious or ignorant or both".
• To paraphrase an Ontario teacher, the Grade 10 test "highlights a basic contradiction: high stakes testing requires government enforced secrecy; democracy requires unfettered discussion by knowledgeable participants."
• Once fully implemented, the government plan is that students will be writing standardized tests, annually, in every grade, from grade 3 - 11, in a variety of core subject areas, with an annual estimated cost of over $50 million that will drain even more funds, resources and time from Ontario classrooms.

Resources:

• Additional information about this issue can be accessed at the provincial OSSTF website: Student Testing
  • This contains various fact sheets, reports and articles that members can read to become familiar with the issue and with OSSTF’s objections to it. This information can be used when speaking with parents, or in letters to the editor, or when lobbying an MPP.
• Alfie Kohn is a reknowned expert who opposes high-stakes testing. There are many articles and resources for Teachers and Parents at his website.

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Revised Monday, September 24, 2007

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