Grade 6 teachers from across the Durham Catholic District School Board — including those working in Ajax — spent Monday in a board-wide professional learning session focused on EQAO results and how to use them to help students who are struggling most.
The session, held Nov. 9, brought together Grade 6 educators from throughout the board, according to the Durham Catholic District School Board. It was led jointly by the board's Academic Services department, its Student Services team, and Diana Hong, an outreach officer with the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO), the provincial agency that administers standardized tests in Ontario schools.
At the centre of the day was a close look at Grade 6 achievement data and attitudinal data — information about how students themselves feel about their learning — and how those findings connect to the board's stated commitment to reducing achievement gaps for students with special education needs.
Focus on classroom practice
Teachers worked through a range of topics, including Universal Design for Learning, a framework for planning lessons so they work for students with a wide variety of needs from the start. They also examined how to use assessment data responsively and looked at what the board described as high-impact instructional practices.
The board said particular attention was paid to direct instruction, flexible small-group instruction, and purposeful practice in the core areas of literacy and mathematics — the subjects tested by EQAO in Grade 6.
The format was hands-on. Participants moved through practical examples, group discussion and resource carousels, stations where teaching materials could be reviewed up close, rather than sitting through lectures.
The overall goal, according to the board, was to help teachers consider how strong, evidence-informed classroom practices can remove barriers for learners, respond to the different ways students learn, and support students throughout the school year.
The board said the session was aimed at building students' skills, confidence, independence and stamina — qualities educators say matter not just on test days but across the whole year of learning.
For Ajax families with children in Durham Catholic elementary schools, the session is part of the board's broader effort to translate provincial test data into day-to-day teaching changes, particularly for students receiving special education support.
