Guides for Ontario parents
Reference pages explaining how Ontario's school data works and what published research reports. Every factual claim is cited to its source — EQAO, the Ontario Ministry of Education, Statistics Canada, or peer-reviewed research.
Understanding the data
Understanding EQAO Scores: What the Levels Mean
EQAO's official definitions of achievement levels 1–4, what the provincial standard is, which results count toward a student's marks, and how small-cohort suppression works.
7 min read · Updated August 2026
The Research on Income and Test Scores
What peer-reviewed research and Canadian policy analysis have found about the relationship between socioeconomic status and student achievement.
6 min read · Updated August 2026
What Ontario Publishes About Schools — and What It Doesn't
An inventory of the school data Ontario makes public, the data it does not, and the documented limits of what any test-score ranking can measure.
6 min read · Updated August 2026
School choice
Programs
French Immersion: What the Research Shows
Published findings on English literacy development, mathematics achievement, and outcomes for students with learning difficulties in French immersion programs.
7 min read · Updated August 2026
IB and AP in Ontario: How Each Programme Works
The documented structure of the IB Diploma Programme and Advanced Placement, and how Ontario universities publish their transfer credit policies for each.
7 min read · Updated August 2026