A trustee at the Lambton-Kent District School Board wants to suspend Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) testing.
Jack Fletcher will address the issue at the board of directors meeting on Tuesday night, asking "that the board write a letter to the Ministry of Education to recommend the suspension of EQAO testing while there's an ongoing review of curriculum, report cards and student assessments.”
Fletcher says he believes there is value in standardized testing but it does not have to happen every year with every student in the grades tested.
"Otherwise, it could be randomized testing with a sample of students," he says. "I believe the money we could save on eliminating yearly EQAO testing on every student in the grades tested could be put to much better use in the class room in supporting our student learning."
EQAO testing has been under attack by teachers unions for many years regarding its value, timing, impact on the teaching/learning process, and its costs in relationship to other strategies that may be of more value to Ontario students.
Several other school boards across Ontario are also asking for the tests that measure student achievement in reading, writing, and math to be suspended.