November 4, 2016
EQAO Decision on Scoring and Reporting of Online OSSLT
Dear Students and Parents/Guardians,
Following the cyber attack that disrupted the online administration of the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) on October 20, 2016, there were questions that needed to be answered before a decision could be made about whether EQAO would be able to score completed tests.
The decision whether to score and report OSSLT results was informed by numerous factors, including the best interests of students, a strong consensus within Ontario's education community, equity considerations and our ability to ensure the data received through the system are accurate and complete.
After a review of these factors, EQAO has determined that it will be able to score and report for the following groups of students:
students for whom we received complete responses for both Sessions 1 and 2 (i.e., Booklets 1 and 2) and
students for whom we received a number of responses and a mix of different question types (i.e., multiple-choice, reading, short writing and long writing) from both Sessions 1 and 2 substantial enough to allow for a result.
Students who were not able to access the testing site, who did not have the opportunity to complete the test or who were not successful will still be considered first-time eligible for the regularly scheduled OSSLT in March 2017. In addition, students who attempted the trial will be eligible for the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course (OSSLC) at the principal's discretion.
Results from the October 20 online OSSLT will be sent to schools in mid-January 2017.
We apologize for the anxiety, frustration and disruption caused by the cyberattack on the online OSSLT. We are aware of how much work you put into preparing for the test. Our team will be sure to keep you informed of any further developments. If, however, you have questions in the meantime, please contact EQAO at 1-888-327-7377 or [email protected].
Sincerely,
Richard M. Jones, Ph.D.
Director, Assessment
EQAO