EQAO Assessment Administration and Format 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under EQAO policy, which document must be on file to grant a student special education accommodations during an assessment?
- A parent permission form signed at least one month before testing
- An Individual Education Plan (IEP) that identifies the accommodation (Correct answer)
- A physician's note confirming a diagnosed learning disability
- A board-level exemption certificate approved by the superintendent
Correct answer: An Individual Education Plan (IEP) that identifies the accommodation
Accommodations provided during EQAO assessments must be documented in the student's IEP and must be accommodations the student regularly uses in classroom instruction and assessment.
Question 2: A student with an IEP receives extended time in classroom assessments. How should this be handled for EQAO?
- Extended time is never permitted on EQAO assessments regardless of IEP status
- Extended time may be provided as it is an allowable accommodation consistent with the student's IEP (Correct answer)
- The student must write the test under standard conditions and results are adjusted statistically
- Extended time requires a separate Ministry of Education waiver beyond the IEP
Correct answer: Extended time may be provided as it is an allowable accommodation consistent with the student's IEP
Extended time is an allowable EQAO accommodation when it is already documented in the student's IEP as a regular classroom accommodation.
Question 3: Which group of students may be deferred from writing the OSSLT?
- Any Grade 10 student who requests a deferral for personal reasons
- Students who have not yet accumulated enough credits to be likely to benefit from the assessment (Correct answer)
- Students whose parents formally object to province-wide standardized testing
- All English Language Learners (ELL) automatically in their first year of study
Correct answer: Students who have not yet accumulated enough credits to be likely to benefit from the assessment
Principals may defer students who have not accumulated sufficient credits, as they may not yet have the literacy skills that the OSSLT is designed to assess.
Question 4: What option is available for students who were absent on all EQAO assessment days within the window?
- The student's mark is automatically recorded as 'incomplete' and they must repeat the grade
- A makeup administration is typically available during the same or a subsequent window (Correct answer)
- Parents must apply to the Ministry for a retroactive exemption within 30 days
- The teacher estimates the student's likely score based on classroom performance
Correct answer: A makeup administration is typically available during the same or a subsequent window
EQAO provides makeup opportunities within the administration period or in a subsequent session for students who were absent during the primary window.
Question 5: How does EQAO classify students who are English Language Learners (ELLs) for reporting purposes?
- ELL students are excluded from all reporting to avoid skewing provincial averages
- ELL results are included in reporting with a separate subcategory to track this population's progress (Correct answer)
- ELL students write a different, shorter version of the assessment with separate provincial norms
- ELL participation is voluntary, so only those who opt-in are counted in provincial data
Correct answer: ELL results are included in reporting with a separate subcategory to track this population's progress
EQAO includes ELL student results in overall reporting and also tracks their performance separately to monitor progress and equity over time.
Question 6: Which accommodation is NOT permitted during an EQAO assessment even if listed in a student's IEP?
- Use of a scribe to record student responses
- Use of a calculator on sections that test calculation skills without it (Correct answer)
- Use of a word processor without spell-check
- Oral administration by an educator reading test content aloud
Correct answer: Use of a calculator on sections that test calculation skills without it
Accommodations that alter the construct being measured—such as using a calculator on a section assessing calculation—are not permitted even if in an IEP.
Question 7: What should a principal do if they discover a test security breach (students shared questions) during the EQAO window?
- Complete the assessment as planned and note the incident in the school's files
- Immediately notify EQAO and follow their prescribed incident response protocols (Correct answer)
- Invalidate only the affected students' scores and re-administer to them privately
- Allow the assessment to conclude, then decide internally whether to report
Correct answer: Immediately notify EQAO and follow their prescribed incident response protocols
Any security incident must be reported to EQAO immediately so they can determine the appropriate response, which may include invalidating results.
EQAO Assessment Administration and Format 3
Under EQAO policy, which document must be on file to grant a student special education accommodations during an assessment?