Student Data Collection (SDC) Process EQAO

EQAO (Education Quality & Accountability Office) Student Data Collection


In Ontario, the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) collects data on students that are involved in provincial testing for the current year. The provincial tests include:


Grade 9 Assessment of Mathematics (winter and spring)
Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test
Grade 3 and 6 Assessments of Reading, Writing and Mathematics

Student data recorded in Maplewood is extracted into a file for each of these tests and then the file is submitted electronically to EQAO's Student Data Collection system. Ontario Education Numbers (OENs) must exist for students. Students without OENs will be excluded from the files (any affected students will appear on the screen). Note: Students registered at multiple schools should be included only once in the EQAO files. To prevent this, when creating the grade 3/6 file, or the Literacy Test files, only students with a 'Student Board Residence Status' of 'Pupil of the Board' will be included in the files. Since a student may be taking a grade 9 math course in his non-home school, the grade 9 math files will include all students.

Each EQAO file contains all the eligible students in the board (district) in a single batch file (in XML format). Boards cannot submit files one school at a time as each subsequent batch file will overwrite the previous one. For this reason, the EQAO exports should be generated using Maplewood Central Office. When creating the EQAO files, students with the same OEN number registered in more than one home school are now included on a printout.

Here is a general overview of the process for each assessment/test:

Board submits a file containing the data for all the schools.
EQAO then processes the board file.
From the EQAO website, schools view online the data submitted by the board and makes necessary corrections in their Maplewood data as needed.
Board re-submits another data file for all the schools.
EQAO processes the board file from the second submission.
Schools order assessment materials.
EQAO assigns student barcoded ID numbers and creates Class Tracking Sheets; during this time the EQAO Student Data Collection system is unavailable to schools.
Schools add/delete or transfer students in the EQAO system and may print Class Tracking Sheets.
Schools input assessment-specific data for students where necessary (e.g. accommodations).

Schools should follow the specific timelines provided by EQAO for these steps. Although boards create the files in step 1, schools can create a trial files from their own Maplewood systems so they can see who the eligible students are, and what data will be submitted for them.

Creating Secondary School Files

To create the files, either through Central Office (for actual submission to EQAO) or through Maplewood Secondary (for trial purposes),

Choose Reports, EQAO, Export Secondary Data to EQAO (which is used to create the files for Grade 9 Mathematics (Winter and Spring) and the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test).
Next select the EQAO Export option (i.e. Grade 9 Winter). Check IEP for all special ed. students if applicable.
If creating the file through Central Office, choose the schools you wish to include in the export.

Select Create button and proceed as directed on the screen.
Review the printout of students with missing information. If data needs to be corrected, please correct, then re-create the file prior to submitting to EQAO for processing.

All files are defaulted in the Maplewood data folder in the Export\EQAO folder.

Grade 9 Assessment of Mathematics

Please review the EQAO submission timelines for the deadlines on file submissions.

The grade 9 assessment of mathematics takes place twice a year: Winter and Spring. The Winter assessment includes students enrolled in a first-semester grade 9 applied or academic mathematics course. The Spring assessment includes students enrolled in a second-semester or full-year grade 9 applied or academic mathematics course. Students enrolled in a locally developed grade 9 mathematics course do not write the assessment and will not be included in the file. Students who are in any type of Credit Recovery program are also not included in the file.

Maplewood considers any course with the pattern M??1P or M??1D as a grade 9 applied or academic course. Checking the box "IEP for all special ed. students" will set the IEPStatus field in the EQAO file to 1 (Yes) if a special education student has an active status and an exceptionality (including Gifted)."

For more information on the data collected, see SDC - Process EQAO Grade 9 Assessment of Mathematics, Winter and Spring

Grade 10 Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT)

Please review the EQAO submission timelines for the deadlines on file submissions.

EQAO now offers an online option for the OSSLT. With this option students are able to register to take the OSSLT in October, instead of waiting for the paper version in March (note: Online version is also available in March).

The grade 10 Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test should include:

those who entered grade 9 in the previous school year.
those who were unsuccessful on the OSSLT are retaking the test, including students who were absent or deferred in previous administrations.
those who are eligible to take the test but will be exempted or deferred or are planning to fulfill the graduation requirement through the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course (OSSLC).
those who were previously exempted but are now working toward an Ontario Secondary School Diploma.

To determine which students are to be included, Maplewood uses the student’s entry date to secondary school (on the Enrolment tab) and the literacy completion status field (in the student’s record use View, Report Card Details & EQAO, Literacy Component tab). A student is included in the file if these 2 conditions are met:

entry date to secondary school is September of last year, or earlier AND
literacy completion status does NOT show English, French, OSSLC-English or OSSLC – French

Checking the box "IEP for all special ed. students" will set the IEPStatus field in the EQAO file to 1 (Yes) if a special education student has an active status and an exceptionality other than Gifted.

SDC - Secondary School Literacy Test. To see the data collected in this file, use the links below:

Note: EQAO does collect other information from schools, although this information may not be requested on a regular basis, and may not include all schools within the board. Other elementary file submissions include:

PISA - Programme for International Student Assessment

Creating Elementary School Files

To create the files, either through Central Office (for actual submission to EQAO) or through Maplewood Elementary (for trial purposes),

Choose Reports, EQAO, Export Elementary Data to EQAO (is used to create the file for Grade 3 and 6 Assessments of Reading, Writing, and Mathematics). Note: This menu option appears in any secondary school that includes grade 3 or 6 in the table of grades
Check IEP for all special ed. students if applicable.
If creating the file through Central Office, choose the schools you wish to include in the export. Note: the 'Mident# on Report' field should only be populated if a school has 2 Mident numbers (i.e. 1 for elementary grades in the school, and 1 for secondary students in the school).

Select Create button and proceed as directed on the screen.
Review the printout of students with missing information. If data needs to be corrected, please correct, then re-create the file prior to submitting to EQAO for processing.

All files are defaulted in the Maplewood data folder in the Export\EQAO folder.

Grade 3 and 6 Assessments of Reading, Writing and Mathematics

Please review the EQAO submission timelines for the deadlines on file submissions.

Export Elementary Data to EQAO is used to create the files for the Grade 3 and 6 Assessments of Reading, Writing and Mathematics. To create a file, simply choose the export option, select Create and proceed as directed on the screen. When created through Central Office, the standard select schools screen will appear at which point all Elementary schools should be selected. The Grade 3 and 6 Assessment of Reading, Writing and Mathematics file should include:

Those who entered grade 3 or 6 in the current school year.
Grade 3 and 6 students who are eligible to write the assessment but will be exempted.

Maplewood includes all student currently enrolled in the school with a “This Year” grade of 3 or 6. Students with an enrolment status of Deleted or Next Year Only are not included.

See Grade 3 and Grade 6 Assessments of Reading, Writing and Mathematics for more information. Here is the data collected in this file