Data released by EQAO show that while literacy achievement is 'strong and stable' by Grade 6, math remains an area of concern.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
Half of Grade 6 students and 42 per cent of students in Grade 9 in Ontario did not meet the provincial standard for math in the 2024-25 school year, according to the latest standardized test scores.
Those figures are from students in English-language schools; students in French-language schools fared relatively better.
The data released Wednesday by the Education Quality and Accountability Office, an arm’s length agency of the provincial government, show that while literacy achievement is “strong and stable” by Grade 6, math remains an area of concern.
The EQAO tests students in Grades 3 and 6 every year in reading, writing and math, while Grade 9 students are tested math. Grade 10 students take a literacy test.
Although the percentage of students in Grade 6 who met the provincial standards in reading, writing and math all increased slightly over the 2023 to 2024 academic year, as did the percentage of Grade 9 students who met the provincial math standard, progress on the government’s “back to basics” approach to education isn’t happening quickly enough, Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra said Wednesday.
“It’s just not good enough, and it’s not fast enough,” he said.
Mr. Calandra vowed to appoint a new two-member advisory body that will focus on math, reading and writing to identify “the real causes behind the gaps in achievement.”
They will also look at how the tests are designed and delivered. And they will produce a final report for the minister, which will be made public.
As Minister of Education, Mr. Calandra said he is partially responsible for the tests’ results.
“I tell students when we go in the class, this isn’t a test on your teachers. It’s a test on the minister’s ability to provide you with the tools that you need to succeed,” he said.
But he also accused many school boards of not doing their jobs.
On Monday, Mr. Calandra took over the Near North District School Board, which includes the communities of Parry Sound, North Bay and Mattawa. It is the sixth placed under supervision this year.
“They have some of the most horrific results in the province because they spent too much time fighting each other and not enough time putting [attention on] what is their core mandate, students. And we’re seeing that in many different boards across the province,” Mr. Calandra said.
The NNDSB was placed under supervision after a review found significant failures in governance and leadership.
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The latest EQAO results across the province show slight improvements over the previous year.
Among Grade 6 students attending English-language schools, 86 per cent met the provincial standard in reading, up from 82 per cent the year before; 85 per cent met the standard in writing, up five percentage points; and 51 per cent of them met the standard in math, an increase of one percentage point over the 2023 to 2024 academic year.
Grade 9 students are only tested in math each year. The latest results show 58 per cent met the provincial standard, up from 54 per cent in 2023 to 2024.
Students in French-language speaking schools did better on every test except the writing test for Grade 6 students.
For example, in math, 63 per cent of Grade 6 students in French-language schools met the provincial standard, while 66 per cent of Grade 9 students met the standard.
The annual tests have long been a source of controversy since the EQAO was established in 1996. Supporters say they help direct resources to struggling schools, while critics say that teachers are better able to assess students.
The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, which represents approximately 83,000 teachers and other education workers, has called for the test to be scrapped, saying the costs of administering the program, which has an annual budget of more than $30-million, would be better spent on smaller class sizes and supports to enhance student learning.
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If the EQAO results are a reflection of Mr. Calandra’s job performance, then the minister deserves a failing grade, said ETFO president David Mastin.
“If EQAO truly is a test of whether the minister is able to deliver the supports that students need, what a colossal failure this government has been over the last seven years,” he said.
Ontario’s new math curriculum, introduced in 2020, is “excellent,” said Mary Reid, a math teacher educator at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto.
The low scores in math reflect the lack of time and opportunity teachers have been given to teach it effectively, Prof. Reid said.
“We’re talking a really new curriculum – financial literacy, coding, lots of new expectations – and it was not an easy task. And it still isn’t, because there still has not been effective and appropriate professional development opportunities for teachers,” she said.
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Chandra Pasma, the Ontario NDP education critic, said Mr. Calandra delayed the release of the test results, usually made public in September or early October, because they show the consequences of underfunding.
“The Minister of Education kept the EQAO results scores hidden for a reason: they expose the consequences of years of Conservative funding cuts for our students. When half of Grade 6 and two in five Grade 9 students fail to meet the provincial standard in math, the problem isn’t the students or educators; it’s Doug Ford’s underfunding,” she said in a news release.
John Fraser, education critic for the Ontario Liberal Party, said the advisory council is unnecessary because the problems in education are already well known – including large class sizes, a teacher shortage, the need for mental health supports – and the money the council will cost should go towards solving them.
“Convening this advisory board is just another delay tactic. Instead of spending $1,500 per day paying advisors, the Minister should be focused on the $1,500 of per student funding his government has erased since 2018,” he said in a news release.
Kathleen Woodcock, president of the Ontario Public School Boards Association, said the annual assessments should not be politicized.
“OPSBA has long supported EQAO and the value of provincial assessment. It is a key planning tool to assist in moving the system forward,” she said in a statement emailed to The Globe and Mail. “There should be nothing political about student assessment. It is our hope that this objective approach continues in Ontario.”
With reports from Jeff Gray
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Education Minister Paul Calandra vowed Monday to appoint a new advisory body. The Education Minister made that statement on Wednesday. (Dec. 4, 2025) A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that among Grade 6 students , 85 per cent met the standard in writing, up five per cent over the 2023 to 2024 academic year; and 51 per cent met the standard in math, an increase of one per cent. The proportion who met each standard represented an increase of five percentage points and one percentage point, respectively. The article has also been updated to clarify that the students attended English-language schools.