The Honourable Chester Gillan, Minister of Education, officially released the 1998 School Achievement Indicators Program (SAIP) Reading and Writing national results today at a news conference in Toronto, on behalf of the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC). Minister Gillan said the national report indicates Prince Edward Island students' achievement levels in reading and writing are competitive with students across Canada.
"SAIP allows us to fill in the big picture about student achievement levels demonstrated by 13- and 16-year-olds across Canada and the extent to which skills and knowledge develop between these ages," said Minister Gillan. "In Prince Edward Island, the education community will use these results to plan for the future and take steps to improve reading and writing education."
The purpose of the annual SAIP tests is to provide information on how well the education system is meeting the needs of students and society. Each year the program assesses the performance of 13- and 16-year-old students in one of three critical subject areas: mathematics, reading and writing, and science.
In April 1998, reading and writing tests were administered to samples of 13-year-old students across Canada. The same tests were also administered to samples of 16-year-old students.
The 1998 results of 13-year-olds' reading performance scores reveal that PEI student scores are at/above scores in all other anglophone jurisdictions and significantly better than the scores of anglophones in the Northwest Territories and Nova Scotia. With respect to the francophone jurisdictions, PEI is below Quebec, but higher than Nova Scotia.
A similar comparison shows the reading performance of PEI 16-year-olds is at/above most other jurisdictions, but below anglophones in Ontario, Quebec and Newfoundland, as well as francophones in Quebec.
Nationally, PEI is at the Canadian average for 13-year-olds' reading performance but PEI 16-year-olds' reading performance is below the Canadian average.
The 1998 results of 13-year-olds' writing performance scores reveal that PEI students' scores are at/above the scores in all other jurisdictions and significantly better than the scores of Nova Scotia francophones and anglophones in the Northwest Territories.
A similar comparison shows the writing performance of PEI 16-year-olds is at/above the scores in all the other jurisdictions and significantly better than the francophones in Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and students in the Northwest Territories.
Nationally, PEI 13- and 16-year-olds are at the Canadian average in writing performance.
In comparing the 1998 reading and writing results with the scores achieved by PEI 13-year-olds in 1994, there was no significance difference in the performance of these two groups of students. Likewise, there was no significant difference between the performance of 16-year-old students in 1994 and 1998 in reading and writing.
"The 1998 SAIP results confirm that PEI's teaching methods are as effective as other provinces," said Minister Gillan. "It also provides assurances to students that they are getting the preparation needed for entry into the work force or post-secondary institutions."
Minister Gillan expressed sincere appreciation to the many Island teachers and administrators who participated in the SAIP reading and writing assessment last spring and to the students for their time and cooperation.
Copies of the 1998 School Achievement Indicators Program Report are available at Island Information Service, 368-4000.