EQAO Welcomes Gerry Connelly and Paule-Anny Pierre to its Board of Directors

TORONTO, Jan. 20, 2016 /CNW/ - The Government of Ontario has appointed Geraldine (Gerry) Connelly and Paule-Anny Pierre to the Board of Directors of the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO).

Gerry Connelly is Director of Policy and Knowledge Mobilization for the Learning Partnership and is an adjunct professor at York University. Paule-Anny Pierre is currently Director of Evaluation and Performance Measurement at Statistics Canada.

EQAO also extends its gratitude and bids farewell to Dr. Elizabeth (Lee) Ford-Jones, who has completed her term on the board.

QUICK FACTS

• EQAO's work is overseen by its Board of Directors, whose members are appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council and are drawn from leadership positions in diverse fields of expertise, such as education, business and policy.
• Gerry Connelly is the former director of education of the Toronto District School Board and the past director of the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Branch of the Ontario Ministry of Education.
• Paule-Anny Pierre has been working in the field of evaluation and performance measurement for the past 20 years, holding various management positions in the federal government for the past 10 years.
• Ms. Connelly has served on several boards, including those of the Children's Aid Society of Toronto, Humber College and Free the Children. She has also co-chaired the Sustainability and Education Academy, which provides leadership training and support both nationally and internationally in the area of education for sustainable development.
• Ms. Pierre participated in the evaluation of curriculum reform in the province of Quebec and played an instrumental role in developing the Répertoire des indicateurs en soutien aux plans de réussite (school improvement plans).

QUOTES

"EQAO is delighted to welcome Ms. Gerry Connelly and Ms. Paule-Anny Pierre to its Board of Directors. Their strong backgrounds and fields of expertise will contribute important new perspectives and continue to refine the work of the agency."

—Dave Cooke, Chair, EQAO

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About EQAO
EQAO is an independent agency that creates and administers large-scale assessments to measure Ontario students' achievement in reading, writing and math at key stages of their education. All EQAO assessments are developed by Ontario educators to align with The Ontario Curriculum. The assessments evaluate student achievement objectively and in relation to a common provincial standard. EQAO is undertaking a multi-year project to move the provincial assessments online.

EQAO provides results to each student who writes an assessment. Its personalized reports help support individual student learning. The agency provides schools and school boards with detailed reports about their students' achievement, as well as contextual, attitudinal and behavioural information from questionnaires, in an interactive online reporting tool. These data are used to improve school programming and classroom instruction. EQAO also reports the results of the provincial assessments publicly. This helps keep the public education system accountable to taxpayers.

EQAO is committed to building capacity for the use of data through articles, workshops, school stories and programs like the Dr. Bette M. Stephenson Recognition of Achievement. EQAO has an active research program that investigates factors that influence student achievement, school effectiveness and best assessment practices.

EQAO coordinates Ontario's participation in national and international assessments.

SOURCE Education Quality and Accountability Office

Angèle Dufresne, Communications Officer, 416-314-4327, [email protected]