EQAO: your chance to weigh in

Love it or hate it, parents have some pretty strong views on EQAO, our province's standardized testing in grades 3, 6 and 9.

Here's your chance to weigh in. See details below.

Learning is complex and evolving. We know that student assessment is an important part of the process. But how do we improve assessment and the reporting of it so that it has the most positive impact on student learning at individual, school, school board and system-wide levels?

In 1993 the Government of Ontario appointed the Royal Commission on Learning to study the direction of the province's education system comprehensively. Its report provided extensive recommendations to improve the education system – and it emphasized the importance of classroom assessment in supporting students' learning.

We are now looking ahead to imagine the future of assessments in Ontario. Reviewing how we approach assessment is necessary to realize the Ontario Ministry of Education's commitment fully to meet the educational needs of Ontario's young people.

Join this important conversation --

http://ontarioalearningprovince.ca 

2016 EQAO results

Clairlea's EQAO results from last year are available here. Individual results have or will be mailed directly to families.

Below is a comparison of our school's results over the past three years. 2015 data are not available due to work-to-rule that year.

EQAO stands for Education Quality and Accountability Office, and it is Ontario's standardized testing for elementary and high school students. For those not familiar with EQAO, I wrote a primer on it eight (!) years ago. You can learn more at www.eqao.com.

Great things going on around Clairlea

Here are some of the things we learned at this week's school council meeting:

Events, sports & activities: 

• Track & Field Days are June 2 June 3 (grades 4-8) and June 9 (grades 1-3) (The Birchmount meet is June 17 for grades 3-8 who move on.)
• Grade 8s go to Wahonawin June 20-24; graduation is June 27
• For the runners, the Downsview 5k is Sat June 4. A bus will leave from the school. 
• Team sports include soccer, ultimate frisbee and floor hockey

EQAO

• Grade 3 students will write EQAO on May 30-June 1 (FI only writes math)
• Grade 6 will write June 6-8 (unfortunately this will prevent the grade 6s from participating in the ultimate frisbee competition)

Fundraising

• Now that they are twice-monthly, pizza lunches typically raise more than $2,500 per month
• Popcorn Fridays have been very successful and will continue into June
• Movie nights have concluded for the year
• Spirit Wear sales were a success. A more streamlined fitting process will make distribution quicker next year. 
• The Fun Fair on June 16 will support the purchase of outdoor sports equipment such as basketball nets, portable frisbee golf, tetherball poles and kindergarten play equipment.

Student-led Fundraising

• The Grade 7s and 8s recently visited Daily Bread Foodbank to deliver the $600 they raised through a bake sale and Toonies for Tummies. Daily Bread said this was the biggest donation they had ever received from a school. The students spent the day sorting brussels sprouts. They all donated their TTC fare on that day as well. 
• At the school concert, the Student Leadership Team raised $450 for the Red Cross to support victims of the Fort McMurray wildfires. These funds will be double-matched. 

Garbage-Busters

• More than 50 young volunteers clad in yellow safety vests have been working hard to clean up the schoolyard and Edge Park on a regular basis. Three cheers for the Garbage Busters!
• The Garbage Busters are also saving the mylar popcorn bags after Popcorn Fridays and will be using them to build a solar cooker. 

School Council Spending

• In addition to last month's contributions of $2,000 to field trips and $2,000 toward the cost of the school concert, School Council this month contributed $500 toward a deejay for the Grade 8 graduation. Thank you to everyone who made this possible by supporting School Council fundraisers.

Teachers will work-to-rule starting Monday; school remains open

The Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (the teachers union) is starting a work-to-rule campaign starting Monday May 11. Schools will remain open and teachers will continue to teach their classes. The union has instructed teachers not to supervise EQAO testing or to participate in any "ministry of Education initiatives."

This letter explains what the TDSB knows so far.

The union put out a statement which indicates that extra-curricular activities and field trips will continue "for the duration of phase 1." It says that the job action is "incremental in nature," so presumably the situation will change whenever they decide to move into phase 2.

EQAO results are in (2012-13)

*updated with graphs*
The EQAO results are in. These are the standardized tests in reading, writing and math that are written by all grade 3 and grade 6 students across Ontario.

I will try to grab some year-over-year results and comparison graphs but in the meantime, here's a report that shows all TDSB school results - scroll down to find Clairlea. (The numbers given are the percentages of students at levels 3 and 4, meaning they are either at or above the provincial standard.)

For more information on the EQAO testing and how Clairlea has fared in the past, click the EQAO tag at bottom-right or view last year's post.

*updated* Here is Clairlea's report: http://eqaoweb.eqao.com/eqaoweborgprofile/profile.aspx?_Mident=2916 and some graphs excerpted from it. If you have the time, the report makes for fascinating reading - including gender breakdowns and information about the kids' attitudes to reading, writing and math, as well as data about what happens at home (including the dreaded "screen time," which the EQAO office falsely equates with television).

Above: how Clairlea (dark bar at left) compares to the TDSB (white bar) and the province.

Above: Grade 3 scores over time. It's worth noting that grade 3 French immersion students only write the math portion, and the test is given in French.

 

Above: Grade 6 scores over time. As painful as the math scores are, at least they are trending in the right direction. 

Seriously, you should check out the full report.

September School Council meeting - some notes

Hello Clairlea! Apologies for being slow to report back to you on the Sept 19 School Council meeting. Draft minutes have been circulated to the voting members and will be posted here once finalized and approved at the October meeting. In the meantime, some notes...

School Council Voting Members

We have 33 voting members on School Council this year. There are still many open positions that can be filled by a motion at Council so please come to our next meeting (Oct 17, 7pm) if you would like to join.

Executive

The Council elected the following executive officers:

• Chair – Irit Hartman
• Vice Chair – Christina Auger
• Treasurer – Tina Selby
• Fundraising Chair – Karen Shah
• Secretary – Catharine Heddle (that's me)

Treasurer's Report

Past Chair Ann Silver presented a treasurer's report. In summary, we are starting the year with about $1,000.

Principal's Report

Mr. McGilvray reported on:

• Staffing - the good news of 1.5 new French immersion teachers necessitated the reorganization of a number of primary and junior classes
• Safety - PLEASE follow the bus loop rules
• Facilities - A new portable is on order. We also have a new bike rack and an ice machine.
• Technology - 30 netbook computers, 2 Elmos, 4 projectors and a couple of carts are on their way
• Student Achievement - EQAO results are out; the school is analyzing them to develop Clairlea's school improvement plan. Individual results will be sent home soon. 
• Bill 115 - resulted in the cancellation of curriculum night, after-school meetings and some extracurricular activities. Some (baseball, running club) are continuing. 

Vice Principal's Report

Ms. Harroun passed on the staff's thanks for the welcome packages provided by School Council and the offer of free pizza lunch to staff.

Volunteers Needed

Sign-up sheets were circulated for those who wish to volunteer with things like movie nights, bake sales, holiday and spring concert raffles, pancake day, Halloween Howl and others. We still need volunteers so please email Irit if you are interested.

2011-12 EQAO Results

The EQAO results are out. Here's how Clairlea did last year - you can read the full report online. The graphs that follow compare Clairlea's results to the board and province, and to their own results over time. This is based on the test written by last year's grade 3 and grade 6 students. Individual results will be sent to those parents at some point soon.  



In the graph above, Clairlea's 2010-11 results are the left, darker bar - as compared to the TDSB and the province.

The graph above depicts Clairlea's grade 3 students' performance over time. Last year in black. In grade 3, the French Immersion students only write the math portion (and they write it in French).






And Clairlea's grade 6 students' performance over time. Last year in black. In grade 6, all students (French and English) write all three parts of the test (reading, writing, math) and they write the test in English.

To learn more, start with the EQAO primer I wrote back in 2009. You can also visit the EQAO website, www.eqao.com. Last year's results are summarized here.

P.S. PLEASE COME TO THE SCHOOL COUNCIL MEETING ON WEDNESDAY SEPT 19! All welcome, even if you are not interested in joining the Council in an official capacity.

The Fraser Institute's report card on Ontario schools

The Fraser Institute has come out with a report card on Ontario Schools, as well as a tool that lets you compare schools. I've not forgotten that "if you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself,"* but I couldn't resist: here's how Clairlea and our sister school, SATEC, sit in relation to some of our peers (selected by me, purely out of curiosity), according to the Fraser Institute.

Clairlea in red; all schools average in green. I included Courcelette as a point of comparison, as it has a reputation as being a very good elementary school.

SATEC/WA Porter in red; all schools average in green. For those in French immersion, Cedarbrae is the high school Clairlea feeds into. 

*from Desiderata

Notes from the Sept 2011 School Council meeting

These are not official minutes, just a few of my notes and observations from Wednesday's School Council meeting.

New Council Executive
The council elected its 2011-2012 executive.

• Chair - Ginnie Zaromitidis
• Vice Chair - Hope Smith
• Secretary - Christina Mark
• Treasurer - Ann Silver

New Principal and Vice-Principal
It was great to meet our new principal Mr. McGilvray and vice-principal Ms. Harroun. Many of you will remember Mr. McGilvray from his time as vice-principal of Clairlea a few years back. They both introduced themselves and shared their backgrounds. Mr McGilvray has a background in special education and technology; Ms. Harroun is a French Immersion graduate herself and has taught FI, special ed and core French in primary, junior and intermediate grades. Mr. McGilvray acknowledged the difficulties caused by the turnover in Clairlea's administration in recent years and assured us that they both intend to stay at Clairlea for the long term.

Mr. McGilvray commented on the number of extracurricular programs at Clairlea: intermural sports, baseball teams, a running club and more. He commended the teachers for stepping up to serve as coaches and volunteering their time after-hours. (I echo that. Thank you!)


Staffing and Class Sizes
Mr. McGilvray discussed staffing, class sizes and reorganization, something that will be old news to those affected. High enrollment and a 20-student cap in primary grades resulted in two grade 4/5 FI classes of 36-37 students each. Thanks to the administration's relentless advocacy, the school has been granted an additional FI teacher, which relieves that pressure by adding a new grade 5 class. Unfortunately that means shifting some students around in 4/5 and some lower grades as well. The new grade 5 FI teacher will be hired as soon as possible.

Lunch
Mr McGilvray found that split lunches were not working. Everyone now eats at once: grades 1-5 in the gym (at tables); grades 6 and 7 in the drama room; and grades 7 and 8 in their classrooms.

EQAO
Mr McGilvray acknowledged Clairlea's disappointing EQAO results. We are reminded that this is just a snapshot in time, that it is important to look at the data over a five-year period, and that Clairlea has great teachers whose goal is to educate "the whole child". Still, the kids have to be learning the curriculum, and EQAO is a measure of that. There is a school improvement plan to address the areas where the students are struggling. Mr McGilvray and Ms Harroun will share more information about that, as well as advice on what parents can do at home to help our children succeed.

Individual results are on their way by mail to parents of last year's grade 3 and 6 students.

Transportation
Some bussing arrangements have changed. Affected families have been notified.
If you are picking up a student who is normally bused, please inform the teacher on duty at the bus loop!


Finances
The School Council has approximately $7,500 in the bank. The following spending was approved for 2011-12:

• Gardening $100
• Curriculum night $300 *this will generate revenue
• Halloween Howl $1,000 *this will generate revenue 
• Concert treats $300 *resulting donations will go to a charity of the students' choice
• Pancake Day $500
• EQAO treats $100
• Lice squad $150
• Yearbook $1,250
• Grade 8 graduation $1,800
• Teachers' welcome packages for Sept 2012 $1,500

...for a total of $7,000 in approved spending. As funds are raised over the course of the year, additional spending will be approved.

Fundraising
We need volunteers for fundraisers. First-up: the Halloween Howl. Willing volunteers, please gather on Tuesday Sept 27 from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. A minimum of 15 people are needed.

Other fundraising activities include magazine sales, pizza lunch, concert baskets, a calendar and a 2012 Fun Fair. The Fun Fair committee meets Tuesday Nov 8 at 6:30pm.

Please post below any ideas for other fundraisers or Council activities below, or email the chair.

Council Meetings
Next meeting: Wed. Oct 19, 7:00pm at the school. All welcome.
We sometimes have guest speakers at Council meetings. Please post below any ideas for speakers you would like to hear.

2010-11 EQAO Results

The TDSB has published last year's EQAO results. On the TDSB website you will find a summary of Clairlea's results and, if you want more detail, the full report. Below are copies of some of the graphs, which you can compare to the previous year's results.

In the above graphic, Clairlea's 2010-11 results are the left, darker bar - as compared to the TDSB and the province.

The graph above depicts Clairlea's grade 3 students' performance over time. Last year in black. In grade 3, the French Immersion students only write the math portion (and they write it in French).

And Clairlea's grade 6 students' performance over time. Last year in black. In grade 6, all students (French and English) write all three parts of the test (reading, writing, math) and they write the test in English. 

To learn more, start with the EQAO primer I wrote back in 2009. You can also visit the EQAO website, www.eqao.com.  

Clairlea's 2009-10 EQAO results

Clairlea's EQAO results (at left) compared to the TDSB and province

Many of you already know about Clairlea's past performance on the province of Ontario's Education Quality and Accountability (EQAO) exams. If you were here last year, you'll be familiar with the interventions and learning pathways that formed part of the school's improvement plan.

All that hard work paid off. Clairlea's results in 2009-10 are something to be very proud of. The students and teachers worked very hard to make this happen and I believe that the interventions of last year will pay dividends for years to come. Clairlea showed that good leadership, creative thinking, sharing ideas, celebrating success, hard work and (perhaps most importantly) believing in yourself can make all the difference!

These are some screen shots from Clairlea's full EQAO report, which is available on the TDSB web site. (You can also find 2008, 2007, 2006 and 2005 reports for comparison.) It's great that we surpassed both the Toronto board and the province, but my favourite graph is the one that shows Clairlea's consistent improvement over time. What I like best about this school is that the staff are still talking about improvement, still working at getting better.
No resting on laurels at this school.

Clairlea's Grade 3 results over time

Clairlea's Grade 6 results over time

Summary of Sept school council meeting

Last week was the first School Council meeting of this school year. Congratulations to the 2010-11 executive: chair Ginnie Zaromitidis, vice-chair Bev Way, secretary Christina Mark and treasurer Ann Silver.

These are not the official minutes, just my recollection of the meeting...

13 people signed on to be voting members of School Council. All other Clairlea families are welcome and encouraged to attend Council meetings any time. I gather that 13 members is a larger-than-average school council, but there's always room for new voices, great ideas and smart questions, and I believe our involvement makes a true difference in the school and in our children's education.

We were sorry to hear that vice-principal Mr. Frenette is away on temporary sick leave. Ms. Persaud assures us that he will return as soon as he is able. Freddy, we miss you and hope you will be better soon! 

Our teacher representative this month was the school's forthright and energetic art teacher Mme. Demeter, who reported that the school is in full swing already, and informed us that math program planning, school assessments and extra-curricular activities like flag football and a primary soccer tournament are already underway. It was great to hear her describe Clairlea as "a productive, active school where all the students are finding a good place to be." 

We also learned: 

• The lice squad is mobilizing under its leader, Hope, who welcomes volunteers
• The safety committee continues to direct traffic in the bus loop, in an effort to help drivers learn to use it properly. Bev seeks volunteers who can assist periodically with this morning task. 
• Under Laura's leadership, the tulip fundraiser sold approximately 40 dozen tulips, for a net profit to the school of about $160. Special thanks to the families who donated their tulips back to the school! 
• Pizza lunch is Sept 30 and by now, all orders should have been sent in. For those who didn't participate in September due to field trips or for other reasons, October will offer another chance to pre-order for the remainder of the year. 
• The grade 8 trip will likely not be to Quebec City this year due to the cost. The school is exploring other options.
• Literacy night will be October 7. 
• The Council is required annually to review its principal and vice-principal profile, essentially a list of qualities we feel are important in our administration. A draft document was presented and feedback sought; a revised document will be presented for approval in October. Let me know if you have ideas on this.
• Ginnie circulated a number of documents from the parents advocacy group People for Education. 
• Peggy will run a Campbell's Soup Labels fundraiser this year. Details to follow. 

Council approved a baseline spending plan for 2010-11 that included the following items; additional spending will be determined at our October meeting based on spending requests from Clairlea staff and council members. The baseline plan includes the following items, which are consistent each year: 

• Refreshments for school events such as literacy night, math and science night etc.  $500
• T-shirts for student leadership team (SLT) $300
• Gardens $200
• Grade 8 yearbooks $1200
• Grade 8 graduation $2000
• Lice squad $200

Maria asked about SK graduation and was informed that this is not a formal "graduation" and that teachers decide class-by-class how to celebrate their students' final year of kindergarten. 

The treasurer, Ann Silver, reported that we have about $10,500 in the bank, of which about $5,000 is committed. Request forms are being collected from teachers so that we can prioritize a spending plan at our October meeting. 

Council agreed that 50% of the revenue from the Halloween Howl fundraiser will be divided equally among teachers, to be spent on their classes or classroom needs according to each teacher's discretion. 

In her principal's report, Ms. Persaud reported that due to teachers' and staff's hard work and advance planning back in June, the 2010-11 school year is off to a running start. Teachers have already been meeting in grade teams to discuss how to continue to improve student achievement. One element of this is a math planning session, which has already taken place. 

Clairlea will continue to focus on professional development this year. As part of this strategy, Ms. Persaud will again invite faculty of education students and one faculty of nursing student to the school. 

Clairlea is committed to openness and transparency. Ms. Persaud welcomes all concerns and accolades, but asks that concerns are raised first with your child's teacher in keeping with the school's parent concern protocol. 

Together with the Safe and Caring Schools committee, the school asks everyone to follow the rules of the bus loop and parking lot. Emergency procedures are being rehearsed and there will be several fire drills throughout the year. 

Ms. Persaud reminded us of the four priorities for our family of schools (I am paraphrasing): Literacy; 

Numeracy; Creating pathways for student learning; and Communication with parents.

And saving the best for last: Clairlea's EQAO results are out, and thanks to the hard work of everyone at Clairlea (staff and students alike), they were greatly improved! We surpassed the Board average. A detailed report is posted on the TDSB web site.

Last week's school council meeting - some notes

These are not minutes, just a few notes I jotted down during last week's School Council meeting. The official minutes will come out prior to the February meeting.

In the principal's report:

• Ms. Persaud noted that Robert Munsch very kindly donated some of his books to the school library when he was here to read to the primary classes. He also signed autographs. The students had a wonderful time seeing him. There was considerable media coverage of the event.
• Ms. Persaud thanked Starbucks for donating the hot chocolate at the recent bus loop safety event, and noted that Starbucks is generously willing to continue to support the school by providing hot chocolate to literacy-related events up to once a month. Please remember not to stop your car in the bus loop; it is not a safe place to drop off your children. Use the parking spots instead. 
• A new caretaker, Mr. Porter, started at Clairlea in December. 
• A card-reader will be installed at the bus-loop school entrance to increase school safety. 
• The cable television paid for by School Council will be available in the gym prior to the 2010 Olympics. 
• For Winter Activity Day on Feb 5, grades 4-8 will go skating, skiing, bowling or other activities. Accommodations will be made at school for students who choose not to participate. 
• At Literacy Night Jan 28, the focus will be on inferring. This means comprehending, predicting, anticipating, reading between the lines, and bringing one's own knowledge and experiences to bear in understanding a text. (Mlle. Dungo does a better job of explaining it on her new blog.) Inferring is an important literacy skill that is being emphasized at all grade levels throughout Clairlea, partly in response to the school's EQAO scores. At literacy night, parents will learn how the skill of inferring is taught. 
• Also in response to needs revealed by the EQAO tests, Clairlea staff have been meeting in groups in what is known as a teaching/learning critical pathway. This helps teachers develop and standardize the criteria they use to grade their students' work.
• Ms. Persaud also mentioned that the school will have an assembly in February for Black History Month. 

Ms. Skerletovic presented the teacher's report. She mentioned that the teachers and administration met recently to agree on a consistent response to different types of discipline issues at the school. The teachers brainstormed different types of behaviours that they have encountered at Clairlea and categorized these transgressions into major, minor and suspendable. The hope is that with more clarity and a consistent approach, students will learn to better respect the rules of the school. The school's code of conduct will be revised according to the outcome of this project.

Ms. Skerletovic also described an activity planned for Education Week in May. More information about this will be forthcoming, but in essence it will be a day to bring the school community together and showcase the interests, hobbies, talents and customs of different families and groups.

The Fun Fair will take place on Saturday, June 12, 2010. Planning is underway. Irit is planning the activities and Mary-Anne, the food. Catharine (that's me) would greatly appreciate any assistance in soliciting corporate gifts for the silent auction. Please email me if you would like to donate or help solicit donations.

Spirit Wear is now on sale! There are t-shirts in grey or purple, with regular or shiny-silver print, as well as toques and hoodies.

Our very own Tami Oudendijk is chair of the French as a Second Language Advisory Committee. The committee is providing advice as the TDSB rewrites the core French curriculum this year. Please contact Tami if you would like to join this committee or provide input. The French Immersion curriculum will be reviewed in 2012.

Treasurer Ann Silver presented the finance report. There were a couple of requests for funding:

• $50 for Scholastic gift certificates for the Jordan family, as a thank you for their wonderful story which  brought Robert Munsch to our school
• $100 for refreshments for Literacy Night

Volunteers were requested for Pancake Day, Feb 19. Please contact Tami if you are able to help out that morning.

EQAO: What can parents do to help?

As parents, we all know that we have a huge role to play in supporting our children’s learning. But what specifically can we do? Here’s some advice from Mr. Frenette:

• Encourage and support our children as they’re doing their homework
• Set aside focused time for reading. Have fun with it.
• Show children the value of reading for a purpose: to explore an interest, to find out information.
• Expose your children to household math: clocks, recipes, finances, counting, etc.
• Advocate for your children. Become engaged.
• Communicate with their teachers. Use the school agenda, read the classroom blog if there is one, send the teacher a note or ask for an appointment. Open communication and trust are key to success.
• Teach your children the concept of time and the importance of punctuality.
• Demonstrate your interest in school. Have a meaningful dialogue about what they’re learning.
• Use weekends and breaks to expose your children to new places, ideas and experiences.

And finally, says Mr. Frenette, parents, teachers and administrators alike must keep the big picture in mind. What is our vision for these children? It's that they'll become responsible, respectful, productive and happy adults.

I, for one, continue to be confident that Clairlea is setting our children’s feet firmly on that path.

EQAO: Clairlea's action plan

As I reported in yesterday's post on Clairlea's EQAO results, Mr. Frenette has every confidence in Clairlea students’ ability to succeed. The school is putting several programs into place to give students the resources and support they need.

As Ms. Persaud told the school in a letter when the results came out, "Student results on EQAO assessments are an important source of information about student strengths and areas needing improvement. As a school community, we use them along with other information to guide our own school improvement initiatives and instructional programs. The result of this work benefits not only your child but all students in the school. The testing results are also used by our school board and the Ministry of Education to direct attention and support where they are needed."

What that means is that Clairlea has a school improvement plan. It is too complicated and multi-faceted for me to explain here, but certain programs have already been put in place and there's more to come. Mr. Frenette reports on the plan at School Council meetings and everyone is welcome to attend (whether or not you are a voting member of Council) to learn more and to pose your questions.

Mr. Frenette also shared his views on what parents can do to support our children in the learning process. More on that in tomorrow's post.

EQAO: How did Clairlea do?

This is the second of four posts on the EQAO program. In this post, we look at Clairlea's results from 2008-09.

From the graph below, you can see that in grade 6, Clairlea is pretty close to average by most measures. You can find more detailed numbers in the school’s report – see page 10 and 11 for grade 6.

Grade 3 paints a bit of a different picture. It’s important to view these results in context, and here’s what Mr. Frenette told me.

Since only the English stream does the reading and writing tests, the total number of participants is quite low – just 23 students in grade 3 reading and writing. That means that a small number of children having difficulty can greatly affect the numbers. As you can see, Clairlea’s grade 3 mathematics score (with 53 students participating) is closer to the provincial average, though still below it.

While the school takes the results seriously and is acting on them, Mr. Frenette cautions against becoming overly concerned. He emphasizes that the EQAO test is merely a snapshot, taken at a single point in time, and that it is one of many ways of measuring student achievement at Clairlea.

In addition to the low participant numbers, Mr. Frenette acknowledges that there were certain factors last year and the previous year that may have resulted in lower scores in 2008-09. In my next post, I’ll tell you about the school’s action plan to ensure that all students at Clairlea are able to learn successfully.

“I have all the confidence in the world in our students,” Mr. Frenette concludes. “They are in good hands. Our job is to give them hope, and the resources they need to succeed.”

In the next post: Clairlea's action plan.

EQAO: The basics

As you probably already know, our school's full EQAO results are available online, but this 31-page document is difficult to interpret and hard to put into context. Clairlea vice-principal Mr. Frenette recently spent some time with me explaining Clairlea's results and its action plan.

I'll summarize that conversation over the next couple of posts. But first, some basics.

What is EQAO?

EQAO stands for Education Quality and Accountability Office. It is the province of Ontario's standardized testing program for grade 3 and grade 6. It offers a snapshot of students' abilities in reading, writing and mathematics. The test is mandatory, although exemptions are sometimes given.

Is there a different test for French immersion students?

Both French immersion and English students take the test. However, grade 3 French immersion students only take the math test, and that test is given in French. In grade 6, French immersion students do all three tests in English, just like the English stream.

See EQAO's Parent’s Guide for more information on how and when the tests are administered.

How are the tests scored?

Based on their answers, each student is assigned a level in reading, writing and math. Here’s what the levels mean:

· Level 1: Falls much below the provincial standard. (The student has demonstrated some of the required knowledge and skills in limited ways.)

· Level 2: Approaches the provincial standard. (The student has demonstrated some of the required knowledge and skills.)

· Level 3: At the provincial standard. (The student has demonstrated most of the required knowledge and skills.)

· Level 4: Surpasses the provincial standard. (The student has demonstrated the required knowledge and skills.)

In my next post: how did Clairlea do?

Summary of Oct 21 School Council meeting

**Updated Nov 19: here's a link to the official minutes.

My apologies for taking so long to type up a summary of the Oct 21 School Council meeting. Here are my recollections of the meeting, in a nutshell. Please send me an email with anything I've missed.

*Clairlea will be sending two Council representatives to the People for Education conference on all-day kindergarten in Ontario. Ginnie and Tami will report back on what they learn.

*The Principal reported that safety continues to be a top priority at Clairlea. Card-readers have been installed at certain doors with more to come. Ms. Persaud asks that all parents respect the traffic guidelines at the school and park only where permitted. All students have received a refresher on school bus safety. Ms. P. was pleased to note that Clairlea will continue to have a nursing student on-site into 2010.

*Each year, every School Council is asked to update its principal and vice-principal profiles; these are essentially guidelines for what we are looking for in that role. Your thoughts on this are most welcome.

*Vice-Principal Frenette reported on Clairlea's EQAO results. There was considerable discussion on the meaning and significance on the results. Mr Frenette has kindly agreed to spend more time with me explaining these results and the school's action plan, so that I can pass that information on to you. More on that soon.

*Treasurer Ann Silver presented the School Council finances, and there was a discussion about future fundraising plans and areas of spending, including yearbook, grade 8 and kindergarten graduation and other school projects. 2010-11 Fundraising and budget planning meetings will take place in the spring.

*Ms. Rule reported that Clairlea is now a Silver Level Eco School! Congratulations to all involved. She also reported that the Grade 4-8 World Cup soccer is now finished, and that the Grades 1-3 are now playing soccer at recess.

*The Junior-Intermediate Drama Club (grades 5-8) will be putting on a play this winter. Follow Ms. Park's blog for future details.

*Council approved $160 to fund a photography project for the Home School class.

*The Clairlea Fun Fair will take place on June 12, 2010. We're actively seeking volunteers as well as donations for the silent auction. Please email us if you're able to help.

*A Dance-A-Thon will take place on Wednesday November 18. This is a fundraiser to support a robotics program at Clairlea. Details to come.

I think that was about it - but the official minutes will capture everything in detail. Please let us know if you want to join the School Council's email list.