TORONTO — Ontario students’ math scores on standardized tests across three grades have either fallen or are stagnant at low rates.

The Education Quality and Accountability Office released assessment results today for the first round of standardized tests that students have written since before the pandemic.

The 2021-22 school year results show that 47 per cent of Grade 6 students met the provincial standard in math, down slightly from 50 per cent in 2018-19.

For Grade 9 students, 52 per cent met the provincial standard, down from 75 per cent three years ago, and 59 per cent of Grade 3 students met the provincial math standard, compared to 60 per cent in 2018-19.

The Progressive Conservative government campaigned in 2018 on bringing in a new math curriculum, criticizing the former Liberal government’s so-called Discovery Math curriculum and years of declining EQAO math scores.

Ontario introduced its new math curriculum into classrooms in September 2020, framing it as getting back to basics and giving students skills to get jobs of the future.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 20, 2022.

The Canadian Press