Student Perceptions of Literacy after the Ontario Secondary Literacy Course: A Qualitative Inquiry

• Main Authors: Thomas G. Ryan, Lianne Lianne Van De Wal
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Brock University 2014-10-01
• Series: Brock Education: a Journal of Educational Research and Practice
• Online Access: http://brock.scholarsportal.info/journals/brocked/home/article/view/325

Adolescent literacy has emerged via the high-stakesstandardized test known as the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT)as a critical area of debate and study. Research has indicated a directconnection between literacy and identity, and that student literacy practicesdiffer from traditional measures of literacy located in school curriculum andevaluated via standardized tests such as the OSSLT. Outcomes such as limitedachievement, difficulties with literacy and the development of literacy skills,and subsequent below standard scorescan diminish student self-concept, lower self-esteem, and impede self-efficacy.This ethnographic case study illuminated the impact of OSSLT and subsequentmandatory enrolment in the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course usingsemi-structured interviews involving high-school students from a northernOntario secondary school. Previous related research outcomes, whichdemonstrated a connection between standardized test scores and self-concept,were realized via participants’ understanding and perception of literacy, andthrough mitigating factors impacting literacy engagement and achievement.