Delayed EQAO results released, Ontario to review standardized testing approach as math improvement too slow

Toronto·NewOntario’s education minister says he is going to appoint advisers to review the province’s approach to standardized testing, as results are not showing enough improvement, particularly in math.Teachers, politicians had called on province to reveal results from testing in recent weeksAllison Jones · The Canadian Press · Posted: Dec 03, 2025 10:25 AM EST | Last Updated: 5 minutes agoListen to this articleEstimated 2 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Education Minister Paul Calandra says math scores for the province’s students are not high enough, so he will be naming two people to an advisory body early next year to do a comprehensive review. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)Ontario’s education minister says he is going to appoint advisers to review the province’s approach to standardized testing, as results are not showing enough improvement, particularly in math.Math scores on the Education Quality and Accountability Office standardized tests have been a concern for the province for years, as only about half of Grade 6 students are able to meet the standard.The latest results released Wednesday, which reflect tests conducted last year, show that 64 per cent of Grade 3 students met the math standard, 51 per cent of Grade 6 students met the standard and 58 per cent of Grade 9 students met the standard.Those results are up a few percentage points from the previous two years, but Education Minister Paul Calandra says they are not high enough, so he will be naming two people to an advisory body early next year to do a comprehensive review.He says their review will assess why the pace of improvement isn’t faster, whether the curriculum and learning resources are clear, how well teachers are being prepared and whether students have the tools they need.Students are also assessed in reading and writing in Grades 3 and 6, and Grade 10 students take a literacy test.