The majority of Hamilton's Grade 6 students fell short in provincial math tests for the second year in a row.

Nearly two-thirds of public school students and just over half of Catholic pupils failed to meet Ontario standards for Grade 6 math in the 2016/2017 school year, showed scores released Wednesday by the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO).

"We are in many ways confounded by the results," said Pat Daly, chair of the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board (HWCDSB). "Our reading and writing results are very high and very strong and these are the same students and the same teachers in these classrooms."

A mere 39 per cent of public school students met the mark in Grade 6 math last year, which was far below the provincial average of 50 per cent.

However, it was a small victory to see the score increase ever so slightly after years of steady decline. The 2015/2016 school year saw an all-time low of 38 per cent of Grade 6 math students making the grade compared to 48 per cent in 2012/2013.

The one percentage point increase last school year may not seem like a big jump, but it does represent about 30 more students showing the mathematics skills required by the Ontario curriculum.

"Although, we're lower than the province, the gap has narrowed from last year," said Manny Figueiredo, director of education. "It's 30 more students reaching that level and that is significant for us. Do we want to see greater improvements? Absolutely."

The Catholic board saw its math scores continue to fall to 47 per cent of Grade 6 students meeting expectations from 48 per cent the year before and 54 per cent in the 2012/2013 school year.

"We, like the vast majority of school boards in Ontario, have concern with the results over the last number of years," said Daly. "Our staff is working at all levels extremely hard. We have serious concerns with the curriculum and the need for additional resources."

In contrast, provincial scores levelled out after years of decline. But it wasn't the boost anticipated one year after the government put a renewed math strategy in place, with $60-million dedicated to getting better results.

"I was really hopeful there was going to be an improvement - even a slight improvement," said Mary Reid, assistant professor specializing in math at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. "The renewed math strategy needs a bit more time to get into gear and see better results."

Ontario announced this month changes to standardized testing, as well as curriculum updates, especially in math due to the continuing low scores.

"The fact that EQAO scores are flat says to me there has not been a lot of change in the last couple of years," said Ian VanderBurgh, the director of the Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing at the University of Waterloo. "The province is investing resources in their renewed math strategy. That is important, but any results from that will take several years to come to fruition."

The dismal math scores are in stark contrast to the high number of students meeting the provincial standard for Grade 6 reading and writing.

At the public board, nearly three-quarters of students meet the mark, while the provincial average and Catholic board have scores around 80 per cent.

"We need to be looking really carefully and trying to engage educational experts, mathematical experts, teachers and parents to try to figure out where the disconnect is and go from there," said VanderBurgh.

Grade nine applied math scores are also a big concern, with 37 per cent of public school students making the mark last school year.

The Catholic board saw a significant decline to 41 per cent of applied Grade 9 math students meeting provincial expectations in 2016/2017 compared to 46 per cent the year before.

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Both Hamilton boards were below the provincial average of 44 per cent.

"We've set a target to try to improve the Grade 3, 6 and 9 mathematic results," said Figueiredo. "It's going to take us more time."

Grade three math students fared only slightly better.

More than half of them failed to meet the provincial standard in Hamilton's public schools.

Provincially and at Hamilton's Catholic schools roughly one-third of students didn't make the grade.

The Grade 3 scores decreased both in Hamilton's public board and provincially. The results held steady at the Catholic school board which was above the provincial average.

"EQAO is so public and it's an important piece of data, but it's a snapshot in time," said Figueiredo. "What we do with this data, that's what's important."

Hamilton's public schools will spend at least part of a professional activity day Friday studying the patterns and trends in the EQAO data.

An investigative series published by The Spectator in June detailed a decade of decline in math scores at schools from all socioeconomic backgrounds in Hamilton and Burlington. A number of provincial and school board strategies have yet to fix the math problem.

"EQAO is one piece of the puzzle," said Reid. "It's not the be all and end all, but it is an important piece of the puzzle."

- The Math problem: Hamilton students failing to make the grade