Provincial and territorial education ministers advised today that they will be adopting a new Pan-Canadian Assessment Program (PCAP) to assess student performance in reading, mathematics and science.
The new program will replace the existing School Achievement Indicators Program (SAIP) which has been in place for 10 years.
PEI Education Minister Chester Gillan advised that PEI officials were very involved in the development of the new assessment program. "The new national assessment instrument is a forward-thinking and streamlined program that enables us to assess the performance of our students in Canada, and it dovetails very well with our international student assessment program," said the minister. "It is good educational research that enables us to assess how well our curriculum is preparing our students, and where we should be allocating resources in terms of new curriculum, teaching strategies and professional development."
PCAP will initially assess the performance of 13-year-old and 15-year-old students in the core subjects of reading, mathematics and science. Other subjects may be included later, such as, second languages, information and communications technologies, and the arts.
Currently, students in PEI participate in national and international assessment programs at age 13 and 16. With the new arrangement, Canadian content will be included in the international PISA assessment during those years when both assessments would be done. The new process will be more efficient as it will reduce duplication and disruption for teachers and students.
"Since the same groups will now be tested two years apart, change over time can be easily and accurately measured. The information gained through these assessments will enable us to develop education policy based on continuous improvement and changing needs," said Minister Gillan.
Ministers were meeting in London, Ontario, this week at the annual meeting of the Council of Ministers of Education Canada (CMEC). CMEC is a body of provincial and territorial ministers responsible for elementary, secondary and post secondary education. Through CMEC, ministers share information and undertake projects in areas of mutual interest and concern.
Backgrounder attached
MEDIA BACKGROUNDER : Pan-Canadian Assessment Program (PCAP)
The Pan-Canadian Assessment Program (PCAP) is a streamlined assessment initiative of all provinces and territories in Canada. The PCAP will confirm Canada's leadership in innovative large-scale assessments aimed at improving student learning.
PCAP will be introduced in 2007. Before then, provinces and territories will complete the third cycle of the School Achievement Indicators Program (SAIP) with an assessment in Science (2004) and in Reading (2005).
At its inception, PCAP will focus on two age groups (13-year-old and 15-year-olds) and three subject areas (reading, mathematics, and science). However, PCAP is designed to add other subjects as the need arises. First, PCAP will assess the knowledge and skills of 13-year-old students as reflected in curricula across all Canadian jurisdictions. Then, two years later, the same cohort of students will be reassessed.
The Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA), conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) will be administered to measure how well 15-year-old students are able to use what they have acquired in school to meet the challenges facing them as they approach completion of their compulsory schooling. A Canadian component of PISA will incorporate items reflecting Canadian content to cascade down to the pan-Canadian and jurisdictional assessments.
The PCAP will provide a valuable Pan-Canadian information base on student achievement. Linking the PCAP with PISA also provides a means for validating information about student achievement, using data form jurisdictional, pan-Canadian, and international assessments.
Provincial and territorial minister of education feel that PCAP and PISA will provide excellent tools for seeing how Canada compares educationally in the developed world and its potential to remain a viable competitor. They expected that the assessment program will reinforce a continuous improvement culture, which should be the driving force in maintaining a competitive advantage.