Education

More Alberta students are staying in school

Government releases education results report

Students have significantly improved in many areas of learning including staying in school and excelling on diploma examinations; they're also reporting that they are receiving a quality education, according to Alberta Education's annual Accountability Pillar results report. However, student performance on Provincial Achievement Tests (PATs) and Diploma Examinations (DIPs) at the acceptable level has declined, leading to an examination of ways to address these results.

Every year, Alberta Education assesses how the province's education system is performing using a broad range of measures, including surveys of parents, teachers and students, student achievement on provincial tests and diploma exams, as well as student outcomes such as high school drop out and completion rates, and the number of Rutherford Scholarships awarded.  The information on these Accountability Pillar measures is used by schools, school jurisdictions and the province to determine if learning goals are being met, to develop and implement strategies to improve results, and to report to parents and communities.

Where there are areas requiring improvement Alberta Education and school authorities work together to address the problems with practical solutions. A number of key department initiatives aimed at improving our results include:

• Alberta Education has invested about $400 million to date to support almost 1,300 Alberta Initiative for School Improvement projects since the program's inception in 1999.  The investment for the 2007-2008 school year is over $73 million. Within the Cycle 3 of AISI projects about 25% of approved projects deal with mathematics.
• A new math curriculum is being phased in to Alberta schools starting the 2008/09 school year. The new curriculum will ensure students receive a good grounding in basic mathematics, with an increased focus on number facts and problem solving.
• Alberta Education has extended funding available for preschoolers enrolled in a recognized Early Childhood Services (ECS) program to access more English as a Second Language (ESL) programming and programming for students attending Francophone schools who do not have sufficient French language skills to succeed in school (Francisation programming) to eligible children as young as 3 1/2 years old starting in September 2007. $7 million has been provided to school jurisdictions to help build language skills for children through (ECS) programming including Kindergarten and HeadStart. This is one initiative in support of the Minister of Education's priority to explore options to provide children with access to early learning opportunities.
• Outreach programs help junior and senior high school students who may struggle in traditional schooling to finish their education in a setting tailored to their individual needs. Typically, students attending outreach programs include teen parents, working students and at-risk students. There are currently 127 outreach programs operating throughout the province, at a total investment of more than $7 million this year.

Improvement is a continuous process that begins at the classroom level, and takes time to effect. The success of each student is the highest priority of everyone involved in Alberta's education system, and our provincial results demonstrate this shared commitment is making a difference.

As part of the Accountability Pillar process, school authorities and government share results with parents and the public, ensuring all Albertans are able to see how their school system is performing.

Provincial Accountability Pillar Results

Backgrounder

• Each school year, the numbers of students writing the diploma exams varies by course.  The largest numbers are in English Language Arts 30-1 (approximately 30,700), Social Studies 30 (approx. 25,100) and Pure Mathematics 30 (approx. 24,900).  The smallest is French Language Arts 30 (approx. 1,200).
• The number of students writing in the other courses are: Biology 30 (approx. 22,200), Chemistry 30 (approx. 18,800); Social Studies 33 (approx. 15,800); English Language Arts 30-2 (approx. 14,100); Physics 30 (approx. 11,600); Applied Mathematics 30 (approx. 10,500) and Science 30 (approx 3,600).
• In the Grade 3, 6, and 9 achievement tests, approximately 42,000 students per grade wrote the tests.
• Approximately 1,000 teachers participate in marking of diploma examinations for each session (January and June), and about 500 teachers mark achievement tests.

Grade 12 Diploma Exams-Percentage of students achieving provincial standards

• The diploma examination is worth 50 % of a student's final course mark and the school-awarded mark is worth 50 %.
• A new program of studies was implemented in English 30-1, and English 30-2 in 2003-04; therefore, there are no results prior to the implementation.
• A new process of scoring called test equating is being phased into most courses. Therefore, results are directly comparable over time for the following diploma examinations: Social Studies 30 and 33 starting in 2003-2004, Chemistry 30, Physics 30 and Pure Mathematics 30 starting in 2004-2005, and Applied Mathematics 30, English Language Arts 30-1, English Language Arts 30-2 and Biology 30 starting in 2005-2006.

• Equating is a standard process used in large-scale testing to adjust for variations in the difficulty of different tests.  Equating involves the use of a baseline exam to which all subsequent exams in the course are compared and marks are adjusted accordingly. Three years of data is best to determine overall trends.
• All diploma examinations are now equated, with the exception of Science 30, Français 30, and French Language Arts 30.  These courses will not be part of the equating process due to small enrollments.

• Alberta Education provides two sets of achievement results - one for the entire group of Alberta students in each of Grades 3, 6 and 9, including those who did not write, and one showing the results of only those students who wrote the tests.
• The value of looking at results for all students and getting an overall picture of student success is important. For example, a school shows dramatic increases from one year to the next, but the number of students who wrote the test has dropped significantly.
• Provincial tests tell parents how well their children are doing against provincial standards and if they are learning what is expected. The tests are designed to complement teachers' assessments and are only one indicator of how well students are meeting provincial, grade-level standards.
• Provincial tests contribute to improving classroom learning. Teachers and schools use the results to identify areas for improvement, and develop action plans to enhance student understanding in specific areas of the curriculum.
• Provincial tests tell school authorities how well students have progressed and whether results have improved over time. Overall, the tests show how well students are learning the Alberta curriculum and which areas of the curriculum need improvement.

• The percentages achieving the acceptable standard include the percentages achieving the standard of excellence.
• A new program of studies was implemented in Grade 9 Science in 2003-04. Therefore the results are not comparable to years prior to implementation.

• The percentages achieving the acceptable standard include the percentages achieving the standard of excellence.
• A new program of studies was implemented in Grade 9 Science in 2003-04.  Therefore the results are not comparable to years prior to implementation.

Acceptable Standard

Students meeting the acceptable standard demonstrate an understanding of the curriculum's core learning outcomes. Typically the cut score (score that represents minimum expected standard) is set at approximately 50%, and is adjusted in subsequent years to ensure that the standard remains constant even if test difficulty varies slightly from year to year.

Standard of Excellence

Students meeting the standard of excellence demonstrate a mastery of the curriculum's core learning outcomes. Typically the cut score (score that represents minimum expected standard) is set at approximately 80 %, and is adjusted in subsequent years to ensure that the standard remains constant even if test difficulty varies slightly from year to year.

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