Provincial measures provide report card for student success
All Albertans benefit from strong education system
Edmonton... An increasing high school completion rate is one of the highlights captured in the latest accountability report on Alberta’s education system. The report also shows an increase in eligibility for Rutherford Scholarships at the Grade 12 level, 95 per cent participation in early childhood education and significant levels of community satisfaction with the school system. The results also demonstrated areas for improvement including a slight decline in the overall results at the acceptable standard for provincial achievement tests and a decrease in employer satisfaction with the skills and quality of work of recent high school graduates.
“Educating children is one of the most important functions of society,” said Dave Hancock, Minister of Education. “The Accountability Pillar lets us see how we’re doing, celebrate our successes and address areas where we’re not serving students as well.”
The Accountability Pillar report contains performance measures and targets for key indicators of success in the K-12 education system. The measures compare each school authority against province-wide standards and the authority’s own previous results on the same measure. In addition to achievement, the measures include other factors that impact student learning – such as safe and caring environments, parent involvement, and satisfaction with the education experience – providing a more complete perspective of the jurisdiction's overall learning environment. Parents, students and teachers are surveyed for their input on the operation of the system.
“Alberta’s students are receiving a quality education,” said Minister Hancock. “We have one of the best education systems in the world and this is in large part due to the hard work of teachers, parents and the community. High curriculum standards, excellent learning resources, well-trained teachers and strong assessment are key components of a system focused on individual student success and the continuous improvement of the education system as a whole. ”
Earlier this month, school authorities began reporting their Accountability Pillar results to their communities, ensuring that the entire education system is more open and accountable to all Albertans. Provincial and local authority results are available online at education.alberta.ca/admin/funding/accountability/results.aspx.
Backgrounder
Highlights of provincial education measures
Alberta Education identifies performance measures and targets for key indicators of success of the K – 12 education system, reflecting government’s commitment to continuous improvement. Results over time and targets for 2007/2008 are provided below. These results reflect the cumulative impact of investment of resources and effort over time on the part of government, school boards, parents, teachers and students. Targets are considered met if the result is within five per cent (5%) of the target value.
| Target Achievement
√ Target Met |
Results over time
↑ Improved performance ~ No change in performance |
|
|
√+ Target Exceeded |
||
|
X Target not met |
||
|
n/a No target set for 2007/08 (insufficient data or new measure for 2007-2010) |
↓ Performance decline |
|
Goal 1: High quality learning opportunities for all.
|
Outcomes |
Performance Measures (in percentages) |
Baseline |
Current Result |
2007/08 Target |
|
Needs of all K – 12 students, society and the economy are met |
Overall satisfaction with the quality of K – 12 education |
83 |
84~ |
85√ |
|
Overall satisfaction that students receive solid grounding in language arts, mathematics, science and social studies |
83 |
82~ |
84√ |
|
|
Overall satisfaction with students’ opportunity to receive a broad program of studies |
80 |
79~ |
79√ |
|
|
Employer satisfaction with the skills and quality of work of recent Alberta high school graduates |
77 |
67↓ |
n/a |
|
|
Schools provide a safe and caring environment |
Overall agreement that students are safe at school, learn the importance of caring for others, learn respect for others and are treated fairly at school |
91 |
91~ |
92√ |
|
Needs of children |
Annual dropout rate of students aged 14-18 |
5.5 |
5.0↑ |
4.9√ |
|
Students complete programs |
High school completion rate of students within five years of entering Grade 10 |
75.2 |
79.5↑ |
78√ |
Goal 2: Excellence in student learning outcomes.
|
Outcomes |
Performance Measures (in percentages) |
Baseline |
Current Result |
2007/08 Target |
|
Students demonstrate high standards |
acceptable excellence
Overall results on Grades 3, 6 and 9 Provincial |
76.4 18.7 |
75.2↓ 18.9~ |
78.4 X 20.5 X |
|
acceptable excellence Overall results on diploma examinations |
85.8 22.2 |
85.0↓ 22.3~ |
n/a n/a |
|
|
Diploma examination participation rate (four or more |
51.4 |
53.6↑ |
54 √ |
|
|
Rutherford Scholarship eligibility rate of Grade 12 students |
32.5 |
38.2↑ |
36 √+ |
|
|
Students are well prepared for lifelong learning |
Participation in Early Childhood Services (ECS) |
95.5 |
97.6 ↑ |
95+√ |
|
Post-secondary transition rate of students within six years of entering Grade 10 |
51.5 |
60.3 ↑ |
58√ |
|
|
Students are well prepared for employment |
Overall satisfaction that students are taught attitudes and behaviours that will make them successful at work |
69 |
65~ |
70 X |
|
Students model the characteristics of active citizenship |
Overall agreement that students model the characteristics of active citizenship |
82 |
85~ |
83√ |
Goal 3: Highly responsive and responsible education system.
|
Outcomes |
Performance Measures (in percentages) |
Baseline |
Current Result |
2007/08 Target |
|||
|
Effective working relationships |
Overall satisfaction that stakeholder and public input is considered, respected and valued by the school, jurisdiction and province |
58 |
58 |
~ |
61 |
X |
|
|
Leadership and continuous improvement |
Overall satisfaction that leadership at all levels supports and facilitates teaching and learning |
69 |
69 |
~ |
73 |
√ |
|
|
Overall perception that Alberta’s K – 12 system has improved or stayed the same in the last three years |
66 |
71 |
↑ |
72 |
√ |
||
|
Percentages of school jurisdictions with an overall evaluation of Good or Excellent on accountability measures |
Percentages of jurisdictions • increased on 8 of 15 measures • maintained on 1 measure • declined on 6 measures |
n/a |
|
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