School Board Progress Reports
Grade 10 Literacy Test
The 'Grade 10 Literacy Test' indicator is the percentage of first-time eligible students who passed the OSSLT out of the total number of students who fully participated in the test.
The indicator is calculated and published by EQAO. Students taking English as a second language programs, English literacy development courses and special needs programs are included in the indicator calculation.
The Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) is the standard method for students to obtain the graduation literacy requirement for the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD).
The OSSLT is based on provincial standards for reading and writing across all subjects in the Ontario curriculum up to the end of Grade 9.
For reading, students are asked to demonstrate their understanding of explicit and implicit meanings as well as to connect their understanding of written statements to their personal experience and knowledge. For writing, students are asked to write several short responses, a series of paragraphs expressing an opinion and a news report. Through their written responses, students demonstrate their ability to communicate ideas and information clearly and coherently.
Students writing the test are required to demonstrate their knowledge and skills independently on standardized tasks and under standardized conditions. English as a second language and English literacy development students are provided with special provisions and students with special needs are allowed accommodations to ensure they can participate and demonstrate the full extent of their skills. Parallel versions of the assessments are developed for English- and French-language schools.
The OSSLT is currently administered in the spring of the school year and results are normally available in the summer. Prior to 2005-06, the test was administered in the fall.
The test is administered annually by the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO). EQAO is an arm's-length agency of the provincial government and provides parents, teachers and the public with accurate and reliable information about student achievement.
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