P.E.I. provincial assessments show mixed results

English Grade 3 students on P.E.I. are nearly failing at writing with just 51 per cent of students meeting expectations. That's one of the results in P.E.I.'s 2016 provincial assessment that overall shows Island students slipping in some areas while improving in others.

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The province has been doing the spring assessments since 2007, measuring the reading, writing and math skills of all English Grade 3 and Grade 6 students in the province. In 2016, Grade 9 and 11 students were tested only on math.

"Obviously the data is important for our province and our department to set new priorities," said P.E.I. Education Minister Doug Currie.

"We're seeing areas of growth and gains, but also seeing areas that we need to set priorities that were clearly indicated."

Teachers have known the assessment results since before the new school year, Currie points out.

Students taking advanced math in Grade 11 got fair results 74 per cent passed the assessment while more than half of those in vocational math failed the assessment.

"High school math is an area that we see as a priority as we work with teachers," Currie said, noting the department has gathered only one year of data on it.

'It's about instructional strategies'

Each school is now setting goals based on the 2016 results.The schools' achievement plans to outline how they will improve results are due Wednesday, Currie noted.

"It's about instructional strategies," Currie said. "At the end of the day it's about children in Island classrooms that are our priority."

The department has identified five schools that scored low on the assessment and are beefing up the schools' resources accordingly, although the department won't say which schools.

Individual results have now been sent home to parents and the department is urging parents to review their child's work and discuss it with their teachers.

School-by-school assessment results can be found here, while the province'sbackground document with overall results is here.

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