Provincial tests tell parents:

how their child compares against provincial standards

whether the child is learning what he or she is expected to learn

Benefits

Provincial tests help schools:

monitor student progress in relation to school achievement targets

improve classroom instructional practices by identifying relative strengths and weaknesses

develop action plans to increase student understanding in specific areas of the curriculum

Benefits

Provincial tests tell Albertans:

how well Alberta students are learning the Alberta curriculum

which areas of the curriculum need improvement

Benefits

Achievement Tests - Grade 3

Part A - Writing 70 minutes May

Part B - Reading June

Mathematics Timed Number Facts May

Multiple Choice June

60 minutes

6 minutes

60 minutes

English Language Arts

Achievement Tests - Grade 6

Part A - Writing 120 minutes

May

Part B - Reading June

Mathematics Operations and Number Sense May

Multiple Choice June

60 minutes

30 minutes

60 minutes

English Language Arts

ScienceMultiple Choice June60 minutes

Social Studies

Multiple Choice June60 minutes

Tips for parents

achievement tests are like any other test

excessive test rehearsals and coaching should be discouraged

one way parents can help their children is by supporting their development of strong reading skills

Achievement tests

achievement tests are aligned with the curriculum

the best preparation for achievement tests is classroom instruction based on the full range of learning outcomes in the Alberta curriculum

Test accommodations

may include larger print, Braille, audiotapes, a scribe, more time

help students with special test writing needs do their best

are aligned with daily instructional practice as outlined in the individual program plan

Teacher involvement

writing, revising and reviewing questions

setting standards

developing scoring guides

field testing

validating the tests

administering the tests

marking the tests

Use of test results

no single test can assess everything

large scale provincial testing is intended for use in conjunction with classroom assessment strategies

the clearest picture of student growth and development is gained when a wide variety of assessment information is considered

Report cards

the teacher is responsible for classroom assessment

teachers and school jurisdictions decide whether or not to use the results for the students’ final grades

Sample Question – Grade 3 Mathematics

Sample Question – Grade 3 Mathematics

Sample Question – Grade 3 Mathematics

Core Learning Outcomes

estimating mass

using a standard unit (kg)

Sample Question – Grade 6 Science

Sample Question – Grade 6 Science

Sample Question – Grade 6 Science

Core Learning Outcomes

Air, Aerodynamics and Flight theory

Identify elevators as the structure of an airplane that controls its descent

Provincial Expectations – Achievement Tests

Alberta Learning has shifted away from an expectation on achievement tests that 15% of students achieve the standard of excellence and at least 85% achieve the acceptable standard.

emphasis now placed on continuous improvement – comparing results to stated targets and performance over time

School Results – Grade 3

Results

SchoolResults

2007Provincial

Results

English Language Arts

Acceptable 84.6% 89.1%

Excellence

Below Acc.

15.4%

15.4%

19.6%

10.9%

Mathematics Acceptable 76.9% 88.4%

Excellence

Below Acc.

15.4%

23.1%

25.9%

11.6%

Grade 3 Writing

Writing

Standard School Results

Provincial Results

Acceptable 84.6% 89.1%

Excellence 92.3% 90.6%

Below Acceptable

7.7% 9.4%

Participation Report

13 students wrote both parts of the test

- 2 were ESL

- 3 were Special Education

- 8 were regular

- 1 student was absent

- 2 students were excused

School Results – Grade 6

Results

SchoolResults

2007Provincial

Results

English Language Arts

Acceptable

95.3% 89.6%

Excellence

Below Acc.

23.3%

4.7%

22.1%

10.4%

Mathematics Acceptable

84.9% 81.9%

Excellence

Below Acc.

23.3%

15.1%

16.1%

18.1%

Science Acceptable

87.2% 84.3%

Excellence

Below Acc.

33.7%

12.8%

30.2%

15.7%

Social Studies Acceptable

89.5% 86.4%

Excellence

Below Acc.

27.9%

10.5%

25.5%

13.6%

Grade 6 - Writing

Writing

Standard School Results

Provincial Results

Acceptable 97.7% 89.4%

Excellence 23.3% 22.1%

Below Acceptable

4.7% 10.4%

Participation Report

86 students wrote the tests

-33 were ESL*

-17 were Special Education

-37 were regular students

- 0 students were absent

- 6 students were excused

Next Steps: School Councils and School Staff

What are the strengths of our instructional programs?

*a three year Alberta Initiative for School Improvement (AISI) which focused on looking deeper into curriculum using multiple literacies

* a Mathematics goal in our 2007-2008 School Development Plan

* student support team that provides ESL support and modified programming

*teacher professional development focusing on writing and using multiple literacies and best practices in Mathematics

Discussion

What are the areas requiring improvement?

* Mathematics – skills, knowledge and multi-step problem solving

*Writing is improving but still remains a focus

*Reading for meaning; understanding main ideas/details; organization of ideas and relationships between form and content;associating meaning and synthesizing ideas (Informational, Narrative and Poetic)

Areas for the School to focus on

What factors could be contributing to our students’ performance?

*Increased number of ESL students and students with special needs

*Number of students moving into the school throughout the year

Significant Factors

Multi- Year Results – Grade 3 Language Arts

2005-2006 N=17

Total Test-Language Arts

Acceptable =14 students (63.6%)

Standard of Excellence=3 students (13.6%)

Below Acceptable Standard=3 students (13.6%)

2006-2007 N=13

Total Test-Language Arts

Acceptable =11 students (84.6%)

Standard of Excellence=2 students (15.4%)

Below Acceptable Standard=2 students (15.4%)

Gr. 3 Language Arts Targets for 2005-2007

An increase in the number of students at the Acceptable Standard in Reading

2005 there were 13 students out of the 18 students who wrote at the Acceptable Level (72.2%)

2006 –there were 14 students out of the 17 students who wrote at the Acceptable Level (82.4%)

2007 – there were 11 students out of 13 students who wrote at the Acceptable Level (84.6%)

Multi Year Grade 3 Mathematics

2005-2006 N=17

Total Test –Mathematics

Acceptable=14 students (82.4%)

Standard of Excellence =3 students (17.6%)

Below Acceptable Standard = 3 students (18.6%)

2006-2007 N=13

Total Test –Mathematics

Acceptable=10 students (76.9%)

Standard of Excellence =2 students (15.4%)

Below Acceptable Standard = 3 students (23.1%)

Gr. 3 Mathematics Targets for 2005-2007

Working towards increasing the number of students at the Acceptable Standard in Mathematics

2005 there were 14 students out of 18 students at the Acceptable Level (73.7%)

2006 there were 14 students out of 17 students at the Acceptable Level (63.6%)

2007 there were 10 students out of 13 students at the Acceptable Level (62.6%)

Multi-Year Results – Grade 6 Language Arts

2005-2006 N= 43

Total Test – Language Arts

Acceptable = 38 students (88.4%)

Standard of Excellence =8 students (18.6%)

Below Acceptable Standard =5 students (11.6%)

2006-2007 N= 86

Total Test – Language Arts

Acceptable = 82 students (95.3%)

Standard of Excellence =20 students (23.3%)

Below Acceptable Standard =4 students (4.7%)

Gr. 6 Language Arts Targets for 2005-2007

An increase in the number of students at the Acceptable Standard in Language Arts

2005 there were 62 students out of 68 students at the Acceptable Level (89.9%)

2006 there were 38 students out of 43 students at the Acceptable Level (70.4%)

2007 there were 82 students out of 86 students at the Acceptable Level (89.1%)

Multi-Year Results – Grade 6 Mathematics

2005-2006 N=41

Total Test-Mathematics

Acceptable =38 students (70.4%)

Standard of Excellence =11 students (20.4%)

Below Acceptable Standard =3 students (5.6%)

2006-2007 N=86

Total Test-Mathematics

Acceptable =73 students (84.9%)

Standard of Excellence =20 students (23.3%)

Below Acceptable Standard =13 students (15.1%)

Gr. 6 Mathematics Targets for 2005-2007

An increase in the number of students at the Acceptable Level

2005 there were 62 students out of 67 students at the Acceptable Level (89.9%)

2006 there were 38 students out of 41 students at the Acceptable Level (70.4%)

2007 there were 73 students out of 86 students at the Acceptable Level (79.3%)

Multi-Year Grade 6 Science

2005-2006 N=43

Total Test -Science

Acceptable=41 students (95.3%)

Standard of Excellence=18 students (41.9%)

Below Acceptable Standard =2 students (4.7%)

2006-2007 N=86

Total Test -Science

Acceptable=75 students (87.2%)

Standard of Excellence=29 students (33.7%)

Below Acceptable Standard =11 students (12.8%)

Gr. 6 Science Targets for 2005-2007

An increase in the number of students at the Acceptable Level

2005 there were 61 students out of 68 students at the Acceptable Level (88.4%)

2006 there were 41 students out of 43 students at the Acceptable Level (75.9%)

2007 there were 75 students out of 86 students at the Acceptable Level (81.5%)

Multi-Year Grade 6 Social Studies

2005-2006 N=44

Total Test – Social Studies

Acceptable=42 students (77.8%)

Standard of Excellence=12 students (22.2%)

Below Acceptable Standard =2 students (3.7%)

2006-2007 N=86

Total Test – Social Studies

Acceptable=77 students (89.5%)

Standard of Excellence=24 students (27.9%)

Below Acceptable Standard =9 students (10.5%)

Gr. 6 Social Studies Targets for 2005-2007

An increase in the number of students at the Acceptable Level

2005 there were 63 students out of 68 students at the Acceptable Level (91.3%)

2006 there were 42 students out of 44 students at the Acceptable Level (77.8%)

2007 there were 77 students out of 86 students at the Acceptable Level (83.7%)

Next Steps: School Councils and School Staff

What are our school achievement targets for this year?

*5% more students will be at the acceptable standard

*5% more students will be at the excellence standard

Discussion

What plans address the areas requiring improvement and help students succeed?

*Following the Class Size Initiative

*Support in target area of Guided Writing and Mathematics

*AISI Learning Leader and Professional Learning Communities at CJP will explore best practices in the area of writing and mathematics

Future Plans

Future Plans continued

*Ongoing Professional Development in the areas of Multiple Literacies, Writing and Mathematics

*Implementing the Calgary Reads program for our younger students.