TorontoEducators and politicians are urging Ontario’s Ministry of Education to release the much-delayed Education Quality and Accountability Office assessment results. Some teachers say EQAO testing should be reconsidered to focus on individual students’ needsArrthy Thayaparan · CBC News · Posted: Nov 22, 2025 1:27 PM EST | Last Updated: 4 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Teachers and opposition politicians are urging the province to release EQAO test results, or even reconsider the province as a whole. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)Educators and politicians are urging Ontario’s Ministry of Education to release the much-delayed Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) assessment results.The test results, which typically come out in late September or early October, have yet to be released even with the first half of the school year nearly over, said John Fraser, parliamentary leader of the Ontario Liberal Party. Fraser said it seemed like Education Minister Paul Calandra was “hiding something” amidst claims the results were being held for further analysis.“There is no reason for him to withhold those tests,” said Fraser, adding the tests are an important teaching tool for educators and children.“There’s no discernible reason unless the results are just a reflection of the fact that class sizes are too large and special education has been starved.”CBC News reached out to the Ministry of Education, but did not hear back before this story was published.WATCH | Ontario’s Bill 33 passes, but not without protest:Ontario government passes controversial education bill The Ontario government has passed Bill 33, granting the education minister the power to appoint a supervisor to take over school boards and require school resource officer programs. CBC’s Lorenda Reddekopp has the details.The decision to delay results has also opened up another conversation amongst teachers, with some saying the EQAO process should be reconsidered as a whole.The assessment only provides “a snapshot” of students’ development and is unreliable, said Shirley Bell, vice president of the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO).“Whether it’s students that have special education needs or students [where] English isn’t their first language or students that live in poverty. They have so many other challenges that affect their learning in the classroom,” said Bell.“EQAO, having a standardized test on one day doesn’t reflect them as learners. I don’t think it’s an effective tool. We have better ways of assessing our students.”She said the tests help teachers look at classrooms as a whole to assess how to adjust lessons, but don’t identify the individual needs of students. Skill-based learning and assessment measures with one-on-one time with students would be a much more effective teaching tool, said Bell, but only if resources permit that in classrooms.“Student learning is bigger than just a mark on a page,” she said, “EQAO doesn’t do that, but we need the resources to make sure we’re meeting the needs of all of our students.”The province appears to be withholding information from parents and teachers until “it’s convenient to the narrative they want to create,” said Chandra Pasma, opposition shadow minister of education.She says she’s worried the province may use the EQAO results to justify putting more school boards under supervision. WATCH | Minister Paul Calandra says the way Ontario schools are governed is ‘outdated’:Ontario’s education minister says he’s open to eliminating school board trusteesPaul Calandra has already appointed supervisors who have taken over five of Ontario’s biggest school boards, including the OCDSB. In an interview with CBC’s Kate Porter, he said the way schools are governed is “outdated” and “old” and the model is up for review. “We can’t know how best to support our students and their academic success unless we know how they’re doing,” she said. “The idea that the ministry would have that information but parents and teachers and education workers don’t have it is ludicrous.”Instead, she’s urged the province to release results and look at increasing funding for schools. “The government’s taken $6 billion in funding out of the education system over the past seven years,” said Pasma, adding that’s led to larger classrooms and cuts to programs.“Over time, you can’t keep cutting supports to our kids and expect that they’re going to succeed academically.”ABOUT THE AUTHORArrthy Thayaparan is a Toronto-based multimedia journalist. She’s interested in health, climate and community stories. She has previously worked at Reuters and CBC Vancouver. You can contact her at arrthy.thayaparan@cbc.ca.
Teachers, politicians call on the province to release EQAO results
