Students Prepare for Secondary Literacy Test on March 31
Secondary Students across the Grand Erie District School Board and the province will be writing the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) on Thursday, March 31, 2016.
The OSSLT is administered to first-time eligible grade 10 students and to previously eligible students who were unsuccessful, absent, or deferred from previous administrations of the test. The test is written in the morning and consists of two booklets. Students have 75 minutes to complete each booklet with a short break in between.
“The OSSLT measures whether a student’s literacy skills meet the provincial standard for understanding reading selections and communicating in a variety of written forms,” says Andy Nesbitt, Superintendent of Education responsible for secondary program.
“The OSSLT evaluates the literacy skills students are expected to have learned across all subjects up to the end of Grade 9, according to The Ontario Curriculum,” he adds.
All students working toward an Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) must take the assessment. The OSSLT is a literacy competency test. Successful completion of the OSSLT is the primary way to satisfy the literacy requirement for the OSSD.
Jason Hall, program coordinator at the secondary level, explains the process when students are unsuccessful on the test.
“Successful completion of the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course is an alternative route to the literacy credential for students who have had at least one unsuccessful attempt at the OSSLT,” says Hall.
Attendance is important on the day of the test and students who are absent must wait another year to write the OSSLT.
“When the results come back in early June, parents will be able to see a snapshot of their child’s achievement in relation to the provincial standard,” he explains.
Hall cautions parents that no single test can offer a complete or definitive picture of student learning. “In the end, no one better understands the true measure of the student’s ability and knowledge – or is in a better position to assess them – than his or her classroom teacher.”
For more information on the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test, please contact your child’s secondary school or visit www.eqao.com.