School boards are assessing the results of province-wide testing conducted last year.
The results revealed a third of grades three and six students still struggle with the reading and writing portions of the tests, while many others failed to reach the provincial standard in math.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce still feels there are signs of improvement.
"In some areas we've seen net improvement, particularly in the grade three and six assessments. In our destreamed courses, we're the government that destreamed math and the entire grade nine courses, we're still seeing improvement, net improvement in math and numeracy competencies. So, this is a good sign, albeit it is an incremental move towards the right direction," says Lecce.
But he says there is still work to do.
It was a reason the Minister announced curriculum changes during the summer that put a stronger focus on reading, writing and math.
"Bill 90, the Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act. It is singularly designed to up the standards within Ontario's publicly funded school system and refocus school boards on back to basic emphasis," says Lecce.
"We think the school system needs to catch up and stay relevant. Part of Bill 98 is also making sure that our curriculum is modernized to reflect labour market needs."
In addition to the curriculum change, Lecce says they have also added more supports, including $680 million to support learning recovery and the hiring of 2,000 more educators.
