Education Minister launches review after dismal student testing scores

OTTAWA — Ontario’s education minister ordered a review after standardized testing revealed dismal results for the province’s students.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Education Minister Paul Calandra said it’s clear student achievement isn’t improving fast enough.

“This is unacceptable,” he said. “The results show that despite improvements as we continue to implement a back-to-basics approach, there have been inadequate progress in reading, writing and especially math.”

Released Wednesday by the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO,) standardized testing results show that 42% of Grade 9 English-language students and roughly half of English-language Grade 6 students fail to meet provincial standards for math.

Ontario’s Education Minister is in the midst of deep ref