Thames Valley's Dunwich-Dutton Public School, London's St. Marguerite<br>D'Youville Catholic School and Fonthill's E.L. Crossley Secondary School<br>Profiled by EQAO

SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO, Sept. 17 /CNW/ - Three of the 18 schools profiled in the Education Quality and Accountability Office's (EQAO) Provincial Report, released today, are located in southwestern Ontario. These schools are at various stages in their own journey of learning but all are representative of the dedicated school communities that can be found right across Ontario. They are notable for their leadership, proactive initiatives, data-driven strategies and whole-school approaches to help every child succeed. These are schools that have adopted an action plan based on their unique circumstances and that work toward improved student outcomes using provincial assessment results to support their own improvement planning.

    
    -   Dunwich-Dutton Public School, Thames Valley
        "Teachers do a great job of differentiated teaching. You can walk
        into any classroom and you won't know who is struggling, because they
        are all working at a level that is just right for them."
        - Scott Askey, principal

    -   St. Marguerite D'Youville Catholic School, London
        "We take EQAO data very seriously. We look at it as a means to gauge
        how we're doing, how our students are learning, where we can improve
        our teaching practice and how we will inform our practice. It's
        something we focus on throughout the year."
        - Gary O'Donnell, principal

    -   E.L. Crossley Secondary School, Fonthill
        "I have an enormously dedicated group of teachers that really look at
        each individual student. My teachers always ask 'Who's behind the
        data?' The name is more important than the number. My staff knows the
        personal story behind every student so there's an empathy piece
        that's so important."
        - Ann Harrison, principal
    

"Ontario's provincial assessment program isn't just about testing; it's about using evidence to create tools to support effective learning," said Marguerite Jackson, EQAO's Chief Executive Officer. "As the data in our Provincial Report show once again, educators regularly use EQAO results to evaluate their delivery of the provincial curriculum. Of the elementary principals surveyed this year, 94% - virtually all of them - said they used the previous year's results to guide school improvement initiatives. The provincial assessments have become a fundamental resource for educators across Ontario."

Some of the common themes that schools identify as factors in addressing the literacy and numeracy needs of students are professional learning communities; data-driven decision making; a whole-school approach to literacy, numeracy and student achievement; small-group learning for literacy and numeracy; differentiated instruction; high-quality teaching; early intervention; tracking of all student progress; parental involvement; the coordination of school and board improvement planning; and implementing Ministry of Education initiatives.

The provincial news release "EQAO Publishes School- and Board-Level Results of Provincial Testing" and a backgrounder are also available.

Results for all publicly funded elementary and secondary schools and their school boards are available at www.eqao.com.

    
    Les résultats des écoles de langue française sont disponibles en
    français.
    

For further information: and to arrange interviews, please contact Katia Collette, Communications Officer, [phone], [email protected]