Provincial test results have the Northern Lights Public Schools (NLPS) division pleased with the performance in schools, however, there is room to grow.
“We're really happy with how the students are doing overall. There were a couple concerns regarding Grade 6 to 9 because we noticed some discrepancy there with how the results had dipped a little bit,” said NLPS board chair Mandi Skogen.
At their Oct. 12 meeting, the NLPS board of trustees were presented with the results from the Provincial Achievement Tests (PAT) and Diploma Exams (PDE).
“We are very pleased with the Grade 12 PDE results in comparison to the provincial acceptable average,” said Jimmi Lou Irvine, NLPS associate superintendent – teaching and learning. “The subject we're slightly below the provincial acceptable average in is Math 30-1. It does remain below but we have shown improvement of almost 20 per cent in this subject area from the previous year.”
In June 2016, NLPS Grade 12 students sat at 86.1 per cent compared to the province's June mark of 91.2 per cent in the Math 30-1 PDE.
Across NLPS schools, students in Grade 6 met the provincial acceptable standard in two of the four subjects. In English language arts, 2016 results showed 85.3 per cent of students who wrote the test were at the accepted level. In Grade 6 science that number was at 78 per cent.
In math and social studies the test results came back at 64.8 per cent and 68.5 per cent respectively, where the provincial acceptable average sits at 71.4 per cent for math and 71.1 per cent for social studies.
“It's important to note that our participation rate at the Grade 6 level is almost five per cent higher than the provincial level so it may be prudent to look at this when considering our Grade 6 results,” explained Irvine.
The Grade 9 PATs weren't quite as favourable, with only one subject meeting the provincial average – Knowledge and Employability (K&E) Science at 67.3 per cent compared to the provincial mark of 63.6 per cent. In the other seven courses, English language arts, math, science, social studies, K&E English language arts, K&E math, and K&E social studies, PAT results for NLPS students came in below the provincial acceptable standard. Of those courses, participation rates for five of the tests were also below the provincial standard.
“At the Grade 9 level we need to recognize that we are not yet meeting the provincial acceptable standard in either the Grade 9 courses or the Grade 9 K&E courses. This recognition will be a priority as we shape our work moving forward,” Irvine told trustees. “In particular, we need to comprehensively look at our Grade 7, 8 and 9 school and provincial achievement marks in the work that we do.”
While the results did cause some concern, Skogen noted that until they look at past years, they won't have the whole picture.
“Now we'll be looking at trends, and that's something Jimmi Lou is going to get into for the November meeting. We just want to see how the trends work between that six and nine grade level.”
She added, “I can't tell right now (if it's a major concern) and that's why we have to look at the trends to see if this is something that's common or just an anomaly for this particular year.”
