OSSTF members, including teachers and other education workers, will not participate in any EQAO preparation or testing. This includes the administration and marking of the assessment. Job sanctions also make it challenging to implement the accommodations, e.g. scribing, that many students rely on to be successful on the test. Given these challenges, students currently enrolled in math this semester will not participate in the EQAO grade 9 math assessment this January.
Peel board secondary schools currently include student work from the EQAO grade 9 math assessment as up to 10 per cent of a student's final mark for the grade 9 Mathematics course. Teachers will now account for the EQAO result within an existing evaluation that is currently part of a student's final 30 per cent. Teachers will use professional judgement to reallocate the up to 10 per cent with the best interests of students in mind.
During the Minister of Education's announcement yesterday, he indicated that Ontario students who do not take the EQAO grade 9 math assessment this January will need to take the test in June. The Peel board is waiting for further direction from the ministry and EQAO with regards to a make-up test for semester one students, recognizing that students who are taking grade 9 Mathematics in semester one may be at a disadvantage over students enrolled in the course in semester two. Once information is received and reviewed by Peel board staff, an update will be provided to staff, students and families.
We hope this information has been helpful in providing some context to the Peel board's decision to postpone and in understanding the steps being taken to address the impact of job action that led to our decision to postpone.
Thank you for your ongoing understanding.