Literacy and numeracy

Being able to read, write, communicate, and use numbers are essential skills for everyday life tasks—like following a recipe, applying for a job, and managing a budget.

A young girl stands with her back to the camera in front of colourful posters showing the English alphabet and numerals.
A Black person reads a book in braille.

Literacy

Literacy is the ability to read and write. 

The Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) conducts standardized assessments of Ontario students’ literacy. These assessments occur at set intervals during elementary and high school.  The Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test evaluates the literacy of grade 10 students. Students are considered “successful” if they have achieved the level of literacy expected across all subjects by the end of grade 9. [1]

Not all students in in our community meet expected literacy skills by grade 10
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Not all students in in our community meet expected literacy skills by grade 10

People with lower literacy have more challenges with everyday life tasks and fewer opportunities for decent work. [2] 

A line graph shows the percentage of grade 10 students who are successful on the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) in Guelph and Wellington County from the 2013/24 school year to the 2017/18 school year. For a full description of the graph, refer to the “Read graph as text” section.
Only about 80% of grade 10 students in Guelph and Wellington County are successful on the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) the first time they write it. A line graph shows the percentage of grade 10 students who are successful on the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) in Guelph and Wellington County from the 2013/24 school year to the 2017/18 school year. The x-axis shows the school year, and the y-axis shows the percentage of students who were successful the first time they wrote the OSSLT. The lines for Guelph and Wellington County are consistently around 80%. Source: Education Quality and Accountable Office (EQAO)
Two teenage students sit at a desk and do math homework with open notebooks, pens, and a calculator laid out on the desk.

Numeracy

Numeracy is the ability to use numbers. 

The Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) conducts standardized assessments of Ontario students’ numeracy. These assessments occur at set intervals during elementary and high school. The Grade 9 Assessment of Mathematics evaluates the numeracy of grade 9 students. Students who achieve a level 3 or 4 have met or exceeded the numeracy skills that they are expected to know. [1] 

Separate assessments are used for students in the applied mathematics and academic mathematics programs. 

Not all students in our community meet expected numeracy skills by grade 9
View dashboard

Not all students in our community meet expected numeracy skills by grade 9

People with lower numeracy have more challenges with everyday life tasks and fewer opportunities for decent work. [2]

A line graph shows the percentage of grade 9 students in applied mathematics programs who met or exceeded the numeracy skills of the Grade 9 Mathematics Assessment in Guelph and Wellington County from the 2013/24 school year to the 2017/18 school year. For a full description of the graph, refer to the “Read graph as text” section.
Only about 70% of grade 9 students in Guelph and Wellington County in applied mathematics programs meet or exceed the numeracy skills of the Grade 9 Mathematics Assessment. A line graph shows the percentage of grade 9 students in applied mathematics programs who met or exceeded the numeracy skills of the Grade 9 Mathematics Assessment in Guelph and Wellington County from the 2013/24 school year to the 2017/18 school year. The x axis shows the school year, and the y-axis shows the percentage of students who met or exceeded the numeracy skills. The lines for Guelph and Wellington County are consistently around 70%.
Library books on a shelf.

References

  1. Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO). (n.d.). Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT). 
  2. Lane, M., & Conlon, G. (2016). The impact of literacy, numeracy and computer skills on earnings and employment outcomes. OECD Education Working Papers, no. 129. OECD Publishing. 
  1. Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO). (n.d.). Grade 9 Assessment of Mathematics. 
  2. Lane, M., & Conlon, G. (2016). The impact of literacy, numeracy and computer skills on earnings and employment outcomes. OECD Education Working Papers, no. 129. OECD Publishing.
An open drawer in a card catalog.

Data sources

Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO). (n.d.). Grade 10 provincial testing results. Health Analytics Team, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health [Distributor]. 

Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO). (n.d.). Grade 9 Assessment of Mathematics scores. Health Analytics Team, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health [Distributor]. 

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