EQAO (Education Equality and Accountability Office) spends tens of millions of dollars a year to administer this EXTREMELY flawed test.
1. ESL, special needs (unless severe) and children with learning disabilities are NOT exempt, writing the SAME test, thus skewing results.
2. Cheating, prompting and cueing are rampant.
3. Students' mental health is at risk. They suffer anxiety, depression, physical illness, headaches and are reduced to tears. As well, they practise the test from previous years (they change year-to-year) which adds to their stress. They feel THEY are responsible for good results and that their score will affect their report card, which it does not in elementary but does in Secondary. When they reach Grade 9, it becomes a percentage of their mark and therefore INCREASES their stress and anxiety.
4. There is no research that shows EQAO testing benefits the students, teachers or schools.
5. Teachers are pressured to score high results and are called on the carpet for low scores through no fault of their own.
6. There is only one way to write this test as it is standardised. It does not account for different learning styles.
Instead, use this money to increase staff and support services!
