The results of the 2009 provincial literacy and numeracy assessments are going home to parents this week, says Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Gerard Greenan.
“The assessment results indicate how well students are doing in reading, writing and math at the end of the primary, elementary and intermediate grades,” said Minister Greenan. “They inform parents about their child’s progress, and they indicate to teachers, schools, school boards and the department where we are doing well and where we can improve.”
Over 1,000 students took part in the Primary Literacy Assessment in May 2009. In the reading component, 85 per cent of students met the expectation for reading comprehension at the end of grade 3. This is up from 72 per cent in 2008 and 62 per cent in 2007. In personal expressive writing, 60 per cent of grade 3 students met the standard, up from 56 per cent in 2008 and down from 67 per cent in 2007. In transactional writing, 73 per cent met the standard, up from 67 per cent in 2008 and down from 80 per cent in 2007.
“The primary literacy results are encouraging,” said Minister Greenan. “How well a child is reading at the end of grade 3 is one of the best indicators we have of a child’s success throughout the school years. We have invested heavily in early literacy coaches, classroom resources and professional development for grades 1 to 3 teachers. The assessments are a sign that this good work is paying off.”
The Elementary Literacy Assessment also took place in May with 1,482 grade 6 students taking part. This assessment measures how well students are reading and writing at the end of grade 6. In reading comprehension, 52 per cent of students met the expectation, down from 71 per cent last year. In both personal expressive and transactional writing, 74 per cent of grade 6 students reached the standard. This was the first year that the elementary writing assessment was conducted.
“When we looked more closely at the grade 6 reading results, we found that students are doing very well in reading comprehension when it comes to fiction, but they are having difficulty with non-fiction materials. The fiction results are exactly the same as last year,” said the Minister. “We will be working with teachers on ways to provide students with more help in reading non-fiction.”
1,567 grade 9 students took the intermediate math assessment in June 2009. The average score was 62 per cent which is up from 59 per cent in 2008, and 61 per cent in 2007.
“We are pleased to see small gains this year in all seven areas of the math assessment, particularly in the areas of operation sense and probability where we have made significant improvements over the last three years,” said Minister Greenan.
A primary math assessment was introduced this fall in the Western School Board and La Commission scolaire de langue française. These results will be available soon. This assessment will be implemented in all school boards next year.
Female students outperformed male students in all literacy assessments. This is also the trend in national and international assessments. The results of girls and boys were about the same in the math assessment.
The assessments were developed and marked by Prince Edward Island teachers based on the provincial curriculum.
Minister Greenan said teachers and staff are now meeting to examine the results more closely and discuss how they can be used to improve teaching and learning.
The assessment results are now available on the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development web site at www.edu.pe.ca