Saskatchewan students are doing just OK when it comes to mathematics, science and reading skills compared with other students across Canada and around the globe.
That information was brought to the South East Cornerstone Public School Division's governance table on Dec. 19 while the trustees were conducting their regular monthly open business session.
Walter Wood, co-ordinator of analytical services for Cornerstone, brought the most recent PISA (Programmed International Student Assessments) analytics to them by means of a power point presentation in the afternoon portion of their meeting.
A healthy sampling of Canadian students, from all 10 provinces (no territories) were engaged in the assessment as were students from 34 other economically developed countries (OECD).
Wood explained that math results were weighted equally with 500 being a base score globally. Canadian students scored at 518, with Saskatchewan students rated at 506. That placed Canada 10th across the globe and left Saskatchewan students in fifth place in Canada. Students in Quebec and British Columbia, he noted, ranked well above the 518 Canadian benchmark.
The students examined were placed in six different levels of general competency with 15 per cent of the provincial participants rated at below Level 2, which was considered below the average, while 12 per cent of the provincial sampling rated at the highest Levels 5 and 6.
Saskatchewan had a small equity gap in the tests and the gender gap between males and females left the males with a slight advantage over the girls by about eight points in the math category while the girls were significantly better when it came to reading.
As he waded through the statistical information, Wood said the overall consensus was that Saskatchewan was doing well enough on the average scale, and it was positive to see that the educational system was not letting the lower-level students slide further down the scale but rather were willing to address problems and move them up the scale. In other words, he said, "Saskatchewan is working to ensure all students are getting a good education."
Working with the base score of 500 again, Saskatchewan registered a 505 on the international reading scale with the female component being 37 points higher than the male readers in this province, or about one full year ahead of the boys on the skill set. The reading skills were tested on both digital and paper pages. When it came to reading on digital devices, the skill level between boys and girls narrowed somewhat from 37 down to a 23-point gap. That indicated that the young male readers were more fully engaged when it came to reading on a digital device.
PISA testing began in 2000, said Wood, and in Canada, all scores have declined steadily since 2003 with the slide being less significant in Saskatchewan and Quebec compared with the other eight provinces. He said a new four-year education plan is rolling out with regards to these basic skills, which would hopefully reduce or even halt the downward slide.
Working on the sciences side of the question, and again, using 500 as the international base, Saskatchewan students checked in a 516, placing them fourth in Canada with no appreciable gender gaps, but an overall decrease from a score of 534 that was registered in 2006.
Speaking in general terms, Wood said socio-economic considerations were also weighed in as were pre-kindergarten programs, which could lend as much as a 53-point head start for early learners.
"Parents are also getting involved more. Those students who had parents who really cared about their academics, generally did better, which comes as no surprise," said Wood.
Teacher/student engagement was another huge factor.
According to the OECD assessors, students in Canada were better behaved then they were earlier, which was counter to public perception, but as trustee Audrey Trombley pointed out, this was a bit of a puzzle.
"The students are better behaved, but not doing as well as before. Is that telling us something?"
Wood said another interesting factoid coming out of the assessment regime was that parents value a safe school environment for their sons and daughters, even more so than having a strong academic reputation for the schools they are registered in.
Board chairman Harold Laich pointed to several statistical instances that showed Quebec students doing significantly better than other Canadian students in the base educational skills, especially in math. He noted where Quebec students succeeded every year above the international average and wondered why Saskatchewan educators weren't emulating their Quebec counterparts.
Superintendent Lynn Little said that this was, in fact, happening, beginning with the new math curriculum that was introduced five years ago and is now moving forward with anticipated improvements.
