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Who We Are

EQAO is an arm’s length government agency that contributes to the quality and accountability of Ontario’s publicly funded education system for K-12.

As an evidence-based research-informed organization, EQAO is focused on empowering educators, parents, guardians, stakeholders and the public at large with the insights and information needed to support student learning and improve student outcomes.

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 and workshops. 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.

On this page

On this page

1

Mandate

2

Strategic Priorities

3

Review of the Agency

Mandate

The agency is dedicated to enhancing the quality and accountability of the education system in Ontario and to work with the education community. This will be achieved through student assessments that produce objective, reliable information, through the public release of this information and through the profiling of the value and use of EQAO data across the province.

Values

  • EQAO values giving all students the opportunity to reach their highest possible level of achievement.
  • EQAO values its role as a service to educators, parents and guardians, students, government and the public in support of teaching and learning in the classroom.
  • EQAO values credible evidence that informs professional practice and focuses attention on interventions that improve student success.
  • EQAO values research that informs large‐scale assessment and classroom practice.
  • EQAO values the dedication and expertise of Ontario’s educators and their involvement in all aspects of the assessment processes and the positive difference their efforts make in student outcomes.
  • EQAO values the delivery of its programs and services with equivalent quality in both English and French.

Under the Education Quality and Accountability Office Act (1996), the Office has the following objects:

  1. To evaluate the quality and effectiveness of elementary and secondary school education.
  2. To develop tests and require or undertake the administering and marking of tests of pupils in elementary and secondary schools.
  3. To develop systems for evaluating the quality and effectiveness of elementary and secondary school education.
  4. To research and collect information on assessing academic achievement.
  5. To evaluate the public accountability of boards and to collect information on strategies for improving that accountability.
  6. To report to the public and to the Minister on the results of tests and generally on the quality and effectiveness of elementary and secondary school education and on the public accountability of boards.
  7. To make recommendations, in its reports to the public and to the Minister, on any matter related to the quality or effectiveness of elementary and secondary school education or to the public accountability of boards.

Strategic Priorities

The two main areas EQAO will focus on from 2023–2026 are:

1. Digitalize and Modernize All EQAO Assessments

EQAO assesses important aspects of the quality and effectiveness of elementary and secondary public education in Ontario in support of student learning and positive student outcomes in a fast-evolving world.

2. Ensure Effective Governance and Engagement in the Agency’s Operations

EQAO aspires to create and deliver excellent programs and services for the entire education sector, and promote a better understanding of the role and operations of the agency along with the value of the data it provides so that Ontarians can engage in thought-provoking discussions about education and the publicly funded education system.

Reviews of the Agency

Auditor General of Ontario Review, 2009

In 2009, the Auditor General of Ontario performed a comprehensive review (see page 128) of EQAO and concluded that Ontario’s province-wide tests

  • reflect the provincial curriculum expectations fairly and accurately,
  • are consistent in difficulty from one year to the next and
  • are administered and marked so as to ensure that their results are valid, consistent and reliable indicators of student achievement.

This value-for-money audit also examined the agency’s finances and determined that EQAO is fulfilling its legislative and policy requirements and maintaining solid financial practices. The audit praised EQAO’s budgeting and procurement processes and acknowledged that the agency had reduced its annual expenditures by over 20% in five years while delivering substantially the same service.

In a follow-up report in 2011, the Auditor General of Ontario confirmed that substantial progress had been made toward addressing almost all of the recommendations from its 2009 Annual Report.

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