Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (March 31st 2020)

The OSSLT will be written by all Grade 10 students and students working towards an Ontario Secondary School Diploma throughout the province on March 31st, 2020. Successful completion of the OSSLT (i.e. a score of 300) or the completion of the OSSLC is a graduation requirement. 

Purpose

The purpose of the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) is to ensure that students have acquired the essential reading and writing skills that apply to all subject areas in the provincial curriculum up to the end of Grade 9.

Focus Skills of the OSSLT

The reading selections will focus on three reading skills: understanding explicitly (directly) stated ideas and information, understanding implicitly (indirectly) stated ideas and information, and making connections between information and ideas in a reading selection and personal knowledge and experience.

The short and long-writing tasks will focus on three writing skills: developing a main idea with sufficient supporting details, organizing information and ideas in a coherent manner, and using conventions (spelling, grammar, punctuation) in a manner that contributes to clear communication.

Preparation Strategies for the OSSLT

Students will be receiving in-class assistance and/or tutorials at lunch. Furthermore, students can access more resources and practice tests from the EQAO website. Also, please note in order to prepare our students for the upcoming OSSLT, Grade 10 students will be participating in an OSSLT assembly and those required to write the OSSLT will participate in the Grade 10 Literacy Mock EQAO on Thursday, November 21st, 2019. The results from the Mock EQAO will be evaluated to determine appropriate remediation for our students

 Components of the OSSLT

Reading Selections and Types of  Questions:         

• Information Paragraph
• News Report
• Dialogue
• Real Life Narrative
• Graphic Text
• Multiple Choice and Open Response

 Writing Tasks and Questions:

• Long Writing Tasks (news report and a series of paragraphs expressing an opinion)
• Two Short Writing Tasks
• Multiple Choice Questions

Test Materials

Students will complete two question test booklets with accompanying answer test booklets.

Duration of the OSSLT

Students will require approximately 3 hours to complete the test including breaks. Please note that English Language Learners (ELL) in Grade 10 who have not achieved level 4 support and students with individual learning plans  (IEPs) which outline accommodations and supports that are necessary for, and consistent with, regular classroom practices will be given the same accommodations and supports during the OSSLT. (e.g. extra time, alternate location to write, the use of assistive technology, large print, etc.) A letter will go home with each student outlining the recommended accommodations. The schedule for that day and room allocation TBA.

Results

The results of the OSSLT are released in June of the same school year. Each student will receive an EQAO individual student report indicating whether the student was successful or unsuccessful. Please note that the results do not count toward students' grades but successful completion is a requirement for the OSSD. The results of the OSSLT are released in June of the same school year.  Each student will receive an EQAO individual student report indicating whether the student was successful or unsuccessful. Please note that the results do not count toward students' grades but successful completion is a requirement for the OSSD.