Ontario MPT study guide
Ontario MPT · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Mathematics Proficiency Test (MPT) is a certification requirement for teachers in Ontario, legislated by the Government of Ontario and administered by the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO), which develops, facilitates and evaluates the test. As of February 1, 2025, most applicants for a general Certificate of Qualification and Registration must successfully complete it before certification. The test has two sections. The mathematics curriculum section relates to the Ontario mathematics curriculum for Grades 3 to 9 and makes up at least 70 per cent of the MPT; the pedagogy section is the remainder. Topics on this exam: Mathematics curriculum (Ontario curriculum, Grades 3 to 9) and Pedagogy. The Ontario MPT study guide has 2 sections and about 715 words.
01Mathematics Curriculum, Grades 3–9: Content, Progression, and Precision
Ontario's Grades 1–8 mathematics curriculum (2020) is organized into six strands: Social-Emotional Learning and Mathematical Processes; Number; Algebra; Data; Spatial Sense; and Financial Literacy. Grade 9 (MTH1W) regroups these as Mathematical Thinking and Making Connections, Number, Algebra and Coding, Data, Geometry and Measurement, and Financial Literacy. A candidate must know both the big ideas and roughly where they sit - fractions on a number line in the junior grades, integers and operations with negatives by Grade 7, the Pythagorean theorem and linear relations in Grade 8, multi-step equation solving in Grade 9. Number: place value, decimal and fraction equivalence, percent, integers, ratio, rate, proportional reasoning.
365 words, about 2 min02Pedagogy: How Students Learn and How Teachers Respond
Ontario frames instruction through the Mathematical Processes - problem solving, reasoning and proving, reflecting, selecting tools and computational strategies, connecting, representing, and communicating. Pedagogy items ask how to teach and assess, not just how to compute. Key concepts: the three-part lesson (Minds On, Action, Consolidate); problem-based learning in which the task launches the mathematics; the concrete–representational–abstract progression; math talk and number talks; productive struggle; and fluency as flexible, efficient strategy use rather than speed. Assessment literacy matters: assessment for learning (diagnostic and formative, feeding next steps), as learning (self- and peer-assessment), and of learning (summative).
350 words, about 2 min