Increased use of Assistive Technology on EQAO Helping to Hide Ontario's Reading Crisis

TORONTO, Oct. 5, 2021 /CNW/ - Today the Ontario branch of the International Dyslexia Association (IDA Ontario) released a ground-breaking report on the literacy testing conducted by Ontario's Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO).  The report concludes that EQAO literacy scores are not all they appear to be.

This is especially significant at present, with the Ontario Human Rights Commission poised to release its Right to Read report, following a two-year public inquiry into the teaching of reading in Ontario public schools.

Report finds 18% of students used assistive technology to listen to text passages on Ontario's provincial EQAO "reading" test. (CNW Group/International Dyslexia Association Ontario)

EQAO assesses the reading ability of Ontario students in grades 3 and 6.  Also, high school students are required to pass the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT).  EQAO has reported steady increases in grade 3 and 6 reading scores since 2005. However, during the same period, Ontario students' scores on the OSSLT and on international literacy assessments have show little to no improvement.  To try to understand this discrepancy, IDA Ontario engaged the services of an EQAO-approved data partner to re-analyzed EQAO data from 2005 to 2019. 

An important finding was that over this period, a sharply increasing proportion of grade 3 and 6 students have been using assistive technology (AT) and scribes to complete the assessments - in other words, using technological devices and human helpers to read and write for them.  In 2019, 18% of grade 3 and 6 students used AT or scribes, up from fewer than 3% in 2005.

IDA Ontario president Alicia Smith says, "used appropriately, assistive-tech can be a game changer, but it should never be considered a substitute for teaching a child to read".  She goes on to say that accommodations like assistive technology are appropriate for use during testing when the goal of the test is to measure the student's knowelge.  "That's the case in math assessments, for example, where the purpose is to gauge a student's ability in math rather than reading".  On the other hand, Smith says, "when students listen to text passages and speak their answers on the EQAO reading assessment, the results do not provide all of the information necessary to assess the students' ability to read and write independently." 

The report also found that the extent to which students are using AT and scribing has not been publicly reported in the annual EQAO Provincial Reports.  As the goal of the EQAO reading test is to gauge the effectiveness of the provincial curriculum, instructional methods, and policies related to teaching students to read, IDA Ontario is calling on EQAO to increase transparency when reporting results in the future.  Additionally, the report calls on the province to fully implement the recommendations of the Ontario Human Rights Commission's Right to Read Inquiry, these are expected to be released in the coming weeks.  

The full report is available on the IDA Ontario website www.idaontario.com

SOURCE International Dyslexia Association Ontario

or to schedule an interview, contact: Alicia Smith (President, IDA Ontario), [email protected] , tel: [phone].