A local parent says that a required province-wide standardized test for Grade 3 students is a waste of time and money.
Mario Spagnuolo, a local first vice-president of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO), is first and foremost a parent, and he has been asking the Greater Essex County District School Board to give his eight-year-old son an exemption from writing the Grade 3 version of the EQAO test.
Spagnuolo addressed the public board at its monthly meeting Tuesday night, expressing his long-standing concerns over the EQAO test and its effect on Grade 3 students. His presentation was based on his experiences with the test on his son, though the ETFO has long been in favour of dropping the test completely.
He told BlackburnNewsWindsor.com that he wants parents to have a choice on whether their kids take the exam, something the provincial government currently does not permit.
"The gist of my presentation was I think [parents] should have the right, and the legislation doesn't allow it," said Spagnuolo.
The purpose of the EQAO test is to gauge student achievement across Ontario in reading, writing and mathematics. It is given to every Grade 3, Grade 6 and Grade 9 student in the province. According to EQAO spokesman Mark Ruban, the Grade 3 test is administered in six one-hour windows, with four of them set aside for reading and writing and the remaining two for math. School boards across Ontario set aside two week's time each spring for the test. The dates for all Ontario school boards are now through June 3.
Spagnuolo believes, however, that the test does little to show how Grade 3 students are progressing and they are put under unnecessary pressure.
"Studies show that especially at the grade three level, or seven, eight and nine-year-olds; a battery of tests like the EQAO...is not beneficial to them. It might actually have detrimental effects," said Spagnuolo.
With the provincial government pledging to give parents more latitude in issues like this short of making the test optional, Spagnuolo also said getting rid of the EQAO will save the province money, and free it for use in other areas of education such as reducing class sizes.
"They're also a government that's looking for efficiencies," said Spagnuolo. "So ultimately, if they're looking to save money in the education system, I've just found them $30 million annually."
The EQAO also operates the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT), which is a requirement for grade-ten students as part of their graduation requirements.
Test results for all EQAO tests do not count toward grades in students' coursework, and colleges and universities are only told that a student passed the tests. However, individual student results are compiled and provided to the students' parents each September.
-With files from Adelle Loiselle
