Accountability Pillar

How the Accountability Pillar works

The Accountability Pillar uses data on student achievement from Provincial Achievement Tests and Diploma Exams, and information on perceived quality of education using survey data from students, parents, and teachers (conducted between January and March each year). It also uses additional student outcome data such as drop out rates (page 56), high school completion rates (page 58) and post-secondary transition rates (page 178).

Accountability Pillar measures are combined into seven categories, which track a jurisdiction's progress towards reaching their education goals. Each category consists of measures evaluated both individually and as a group on both achievement (comparison against fixed provincial standards) and improvement (comparison against previous performance). An overall evaluation for each measure and each category is made by combining both the achievement and improvement results.

Category How Success is Measured
Safe and caring schools
  • Teacher, parent and student agreement that: students are safe at school, are learning the importance of caring for others, are learning respect for others and are treated fairly at school.
Student learning opportunities
  • Annual drop-out rate of students aged 14-18 (methodology)
  • High school completion rate (methodology)
  • Teacher, parent and student satisfactions with the opportunity for students to receive a broad program of studies, including fine arts, career, technology, and health and physical education.
  • Teacher, parent and student satisfaction with the overall quality of basic education.
Student learning achievement (Grades K to 9)
  • Provincial achievement tests acceptable standard
  • Provincial achievement tests standard of excellence
Student learning achievement (Grades 10 to 12)
  • Diploma exam results acceptable standard
  • Diploma exam results standard of excellence
  • Rutherford scholarship eligibility (methodology)
  • Diploma exam participation rate (methodology)
Preparing for lifelong learning,
  • High school to post-secondary transition rate (methodology)
world of work, and citizenship
  • Teacher and parent agreement that students are taught the attitudes and behaviors that will make them successful at work when they finish school.
  • Teacher, parent and student satisfaction that students model the characteristics of active citizenship.
Parental involvement
  • Teacher and parent satisfaction with parental involvement in decisions about their child's education.
Continuous improvement
  • Teacher, student and parent perceptions that their school and schools in their jurisdiction have improved or stayed the same in the last three years.

Taken together, this information demonstrates how well each school authority is doing in achieving outcomes and which areas require additional work through comparisons to provincial standards and to their own previous performance.

Alberta school jurisdictions receive a new year of results and evaluations from Alberta Education each year — in May for survey measures and measures derived from information in Ministry data systems, which is updated in October with the latest provincial achievement test and diploma examination results.