A new international report indicates that Canada ranks near the top of the world in reading literacy among 15-year-old students. The report, a project of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) was released earlier today in Paris, France and Toronto.
The Honourable Jeffrey E. Lantz, Minister of Education, said the report shows that students in the Atlantic provinces scored at, or above the middle of the international range, but below the Canadian average.
The 2000 PISA test was administered to more than 250,000 students in 32 countries, with the survey instrument translated into 17 different languages. In most countries, between 4,500 and 10,000 youth aged 15 participated in PISA. In Canada, PISA was administered through a partnership between the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC); Human Resources Development Canada and Statistics Canada to approximately 30,000 15-year-old students from more than 1000 schools. On Prince Edward Island, PISA was administered to approximately 1600 students from 27 schools. Large Canadian and provincial samples were drawn so that information could be provided at national and provincial levels. This is the first time that PEI has participated in an international student assessment.
"The results of this study tell us that our students are performing at, or about, the same levels as other students in Atlantic Canada," said Minister Lantz. "Our scores are at or above the international averages."
Howard Rodgerson, Program Evaluation/Student Assessment Consultant with the Department of Education, said the PISA results provide good baseline data for PEI in terms of curriculum development and implementation.
"The PISA study also focuses on factors other than curriculum that affect a child's learning," said Mr. Rodgerson. "We know for instance that socio-economic backgrounds, student attitudes and family factors all affect a child's learning. No one factor is solely responsible for a child's success at learning."
Minister Lantz said PEI will continue to provide high quality literacy initiatives for students and their families.
"I am confident that PEI will improve its standing in future assessments," said Mr. Lantz. "Our scores in the 2000 assessment were certainly acceptable. As a government we have been focusing on literacy initiatives for several years – from an early intervention program at the Grade 1 level to summer reading programs for children."
Minister Lantz added that the 1999 School Achievement Indicators Program (SAIP) Science assessment showed that Island 13- and 16-year-olds were at or above the national average. PEI has also invested in a new mathematics curriculum for students in grades 1-12.
The PISA 2000 survey included a two-hour-long direct assessment of students' skills through reading, mathematics and science. The assessment focused mainly on reading, with test giving three sub-set scores labeled retrieving information, interpreting information, and reflecting.
In Canada, a 30-minute self-completed questionnaire from the Youth in Transition Survey (YITS) was administered simultaneously to collect more information on students' school experiences, their work activities and their relationships with others. YITS is a new Canadian longitudinal survey designed to examine the patterns of, and influences on, major transitions in young people`s lives, particularly with respect to education, training, and work. YITS will examine key transitions in the lives of youth, such as the transition from high school to post secondary education, from schooling to the labor market, and from the labor market to schooling. Results from YITS will be released in 2002.
A pan-Canadian highlights document on Canada's performance in this assessment is available at Island Information Service (368 4000). Further Canadian and international results can be accessed at the following Web sites: www.pisa.gc.ca, www.statcan.ca, www.cmec.ca, and www.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca/arb.