Parents of Grade 9 Academic and Applied Level Math Students This Semester

What to expect for the Grade 9 Math EQAO Test January 14, 2010

All students taking grade 9 applied and academic math courses this semester will be writing both parts of their EQAO assessment on the morning of Thursday January 14, 2009 from 7:50AM to 11:05AM. Attendance at the EQAO Math Assessment is mandatory and students are expected to report to their regularly scheduled afternoon classes.  Please do not schedule any appointments during this time period.

The schedule will be as follows:

7:50 – 8:10      Activity Room for an energizing light snack

8:10 – 8:25      Room assignment and Instructions

8:25 – 9:50      Booklet 1and Break including light snack

9:55 – 11:05    Booklet 2

Part of the EQAO assessment will be evaluated and used in the calculation of the student's final mark in their grade 9 math course; 5% for both academic and applied students.

The total assessment time will be two 50-minute sessions with additional time for instructions, the questionnaire and a break. Students will receive two booklets.  Each booklet will contain both multiple-choice and open-response questions:

• Multiple-choice: Students will solve 27 questions over the two booklets.  Each question is related to a single topic, and gives students an opportunity to demonstrate their understanding without having to show their work.
• Open-response: Students will answer 8 open-response questions over the two booklets.  Open-response (short answer) questions ask students to demonstrate their understanding by showing their thought process through written work.

There will be grade 9 in-class multiple choice and short answer practice sessions devoted to EQAO in the two weeks leading up to the day of the test.  These sessions are designed to help students increase their comfort level with the test and allow them to ask questions that may come up on the day of the assessment. Please remind your son/daughter to bring a pencil with an eraser, and a scientific calculator to both the practice sessions and the official EQAO assessment.

The most important point to remember about the grade 9 Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) math test is that it tests what your son or daughter has already learned in math class.  The topics that will be covered on the test are:

• Number Sense and Algebra
• Linear Relations
• Analytic Geometry (academic level only)
• Measurement and Geometry

There are some great resources online to help you  prepare your son or daughter for the test.  The EQAO website, www.eqao.com, provides sample tests and sample solutions.  The answers show a complete correct solution as well as incorrect solutions, with all errors explained.  There is also a general marking scheme along with explanations that describe what type of solution is expected.  The EQAO website also has information for parents, formulas and key words from the test and frequently asked questions.