Missing the mark: Some N.W.T. students struggling to meet academic standards

Some Northwest Territories students are failing to meet the mark in English and math, whileon average, students across the territory are missing close to a day of school every week.

That's according to the latest Alberta Achievement Test results from the territoryfor the 201617 academic year.

N.W.T. students in Grades 6 and 9 take the test each year as a way for educators to measure how well they are performing in the two subjects.

"Overall, the results are not what we hoped for, period, as a system," said Rita Mueller, assistant deputy minister with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment.

"We would like it to be improved in both areas, because these are core subject areas that are developing the skills and the knowledge that students will need for the future."

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Around half of N.W.T. students met 'acceptable standard'

The department's data shows just over half of the Grade 6 students in the N.W.T. achieved an "acceptable standard" in English language arts when scores were calculated as a percentage of total enrolment.

In Grade 9, about 47 per cent of students met that standard in English.

Scores were lower in math, with about 43per cent of Grade 6 students meeting the acceptable standard,and just 39per cent of Grade 9 students doing so.

That percentage wasdrastically lower in small communities, where eight to 27 per cent of students metthe standard for the two subjects.

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Yellowknife students tended to do slightly better than students in the regional centres, which include Fort Smith, Hay River and Inuvik.

However, Grade 6 students in the regional centres surpassed Yellowknife students in English, with about 71per cent of them meeting standards, compared to 66 per cent in Yellowknife. Those were the highest scores overall.

In all other categories, the percentage of students meeting the mark was in the 50sfor Yellowknife, and within the 40s and 50sin regional centres.

Attendance a factor in student success

According to the education department's report on the test results, a student who attends school 80 per cent of the time misses a day of class per week or an entire school year for every five years.

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In the N.W.T., the average attendance rate for students across the territory, from kindergarten to Grade 12, was about 83 per cent in 201617.

In Yellowknife, the attendance rate was 89 per cent; 81.5 per cent for regional centres; and about 77per cent for small communities.

Family obligations and economic factors

Many things can play into why students particularly in small communities are not attending school or making the grade.

"There's certain seasons that families go out on the land, traditionally," said Lesa Semmler, chair of the Inuvik District Education Authority. "Like geese hunting timeespecially in the High Arctic communities."

Children often go out with their families for these important events, she added, which can take them away from school.

Semmler explained how some older children are the main hunters for families in the communities.

"That does take an impact, and when they're missing two and three weeks sometimes, going out on the land, and they get so far behind that [it's] discouraging."

And for families without steady employment, it may be harder for parents to get their kids to school on time if they're not also waking up in the mornings for a job, said Semmler.

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Muellersaid the education department has been working strategies to help students do their best in the classroom, like better supporting teachers and implementing junior kindergarten.

As change doesn't happen overnight, Mueller said the department's hope is that students' success will improve over several years.

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As for attendance, it's up to more than just the school.

"It takes a whole community," said Mueller.

"It's really about making sure that our parents and our families and our community at large feel like the school is a wonderful place for their children and youth to be."