BARRHEAD –Grade 6 science and social studies provincial achievement scores have seen a significant increase but Grade 9 math and social studies scores continue to be a concern continue to sit lower than the provincial average in the Pembina Hills School Division (PHSD).
On Wednesday, Nov. 27 Raime Drake, Deputy Superintendent of Pembina Hills presented the provincial achievement tests (PAT) and results summary.
Grade 6 and Grade 9 students wrote provincial achievement tests.
“Our Grade 6 participation rates were much higher than the provincial participation rates in science and social studies but it's the reverse for our Grade 9 with one exception," said Drake.
Grade 6 science results saw a dramatic 10 per cent increase over last year’s results, although PHSD is still looking to increase the scores in those scores in future years.
“We were pleasantly surprised to see that our marks go up,” said Drake.
Social studies Grade 6 markets continued on the same trajectory, and students sat well within the provincial average in that class.
“Our humanities or social and language arts marks are higher than our maths and sciences.”
“They (results) have been lower than the province in social studies 9 for the past three years,” said Drake.
And Grade 9 math and social studies are areas of concern for the school district.
“The math 30-1 is considerably lower than our provincial averages.”
Results are evaluated and compared to the last 5 years although students did not write provincial achievement tests in 2021 and 2022 due to COVID.
The acceptable standard result is usually 50 per cent and the standard of excellence is at 80 per cent.
The Pembina Hills School Division has done a deep dive into the data, identifying specific schools and putting plans together to address these results and address skill improvement in those areas.
Alberta Education made the decision that Grade 6 students would write exams for science and social studies and not write the math or English language arts and literature this year.
“Our Grade 6 students only wrote 2 tests where they could have written up to five tests and that really did impact our results,” said Drake.
This is the measure across the province.
The results of who wrote the tests are evaluated based on cohorts, said Drake.
“That means that anybody who is registered to attend Grade 6 or Grade 9 gets counted as somebody who's enrolled in a cohort.”
Drake said principals have shared why students may not show up on the day of the test.
Parents are choosing to excuse them at the Grade 9 level more so than the Grade 6 level.
The test would do more harm than good, Drake said, citing some mental health concerns.
This was the year that colony students wrote the social studies tests, Drake said, which adjusted the participation breakdown somewhat but not the scoring.
