Provincial tests tell parents: how their child compares against provincial standards whether the child is learning what he or she is expected to learn.

Provincial tests tell parents:

how their child compares against provincial standards

whether the child is learning what he or she is expected to learn

Benefits

Provincial tests help schools:

monitor student progress in relation to school achievement targets

improve classroom instructional practices by identifying relative strengths and weaknesses

develop action plans to increase student understanding in specific areas of the curriculum

Benefits

Provincial tests tell Albertans:

how well Alberta students are learning the Alberta curriculum

which areas of the curriculum need improvement

Benefits

Achievement Tests - Grade 3

Part A - Writing 70 minutes May

Part B - Reading June

Mathematics Timed Number Facts May

Multiple Choice June

60 minutes

6 minutes

60 minutes

English Language Arts

Achievement Tests - Grade 6

Part A - Writing 120 minutes

May

Part B - Reading June

Mathematics Operations and Number Sense May

Multiple Choice June

60 minutes

30 minutes

60 minutes

English Language Arts

ScienceMultiple Choice June60 minutes

Social Studies

Multiple Choice June60 minutes

Tips for parents

achievement tests are like any other test

excessive test rehearsals and coaching should be discouraged

one way parents can help their children is by supporting their development of strong reading skills

Achievement tests

achievement tests are aligned with the curriculum

the best preparation for achievement tests is classroom instruction based on the full range of learning outcomes in the Alberta curriculum

Test accommodations

may include larger print, Braille, audiotapes, a scribe, more time

help students with special test writing needs do their best

are aligned with daily instructional practice as outlined in the individual program plan

Teacher involvement

writing, revising and reviewing questions

setting standards

developing scoring guides

field testing

validating the tests

administering the tests

marking the tests

Use of test results

no single test can assess everything

large scale provincial testing is intended for use in conjunction with classroom assessment strategies

the clearest picture of student growth and development is gained when a wide variety of assessment information is considered

Report cards

the teacher is responsible for classroom assessment

teachers and school jurisdictions decide whether or not to use the results for the students’ final grades

Sample Question – Grade 3 Mathematics

Sample Question – Grade 3 Mathematics

Sample Question – Grade 3 Mathematics

Core Learning Outcomes

estimating mass

using a standard unit (kg)

Sample Question – Grade 6 Science

Sample Question – Grade 6 Science

Sample Question – Grade 6 Science

Core Learning Outcomes

Air, Aerodynamics and Flight theory

Identify elevators as the structure of an airplane that controls its descent

Provincial Expectations – Achievement Tests

Alberta Learning has shifted away from an expectation on achievement tests that 15% of students achieve the standard of excellence and at least 85% achieve the acceptable standard.

emphasis now placed on continuous improvement – comparing results to stated targets and performance over time

School Results – Grade 3

Results

School Targets

SchoolResults

2005Provincial

Results

English Language Arts

Acceptable 93.0% 91.1%

Excellence

Below Acc.

9.3%

7.0%

18.0%

8.9%

Mathematics Acceptable 95.3% 88.5%

Excellence

Below Acc.

16.3%

4.7%

29.0%

11.5%

Participation Report

43 students wrote both parts of the test

-5 were ESL*

-4 were Special Education*

-36 were regular

*Some students were double coded.

School Results – Grade 6

Results

School Targets

SchoolResults

2005Provincial

Results

English Language Arts

Acceptable

90.5% 85.9%

Excellence

Below Acc.

4.8%

9.5%

17.2%

14.1%

Mathematics Acceptable

90.5% 85.7%

Excellence

Below Acc.

19.0%

9.5%

19.9%

14.3%

Science Acceptable

85.7% 88.1%

Excellence

Below Acc.

19.0%

14.3%

29.2%

11.9%

Social Studies Acceptable

81.0% 87.2%

Excellence

Below Acc.

4.8%

19.0%

24.4%

12.8%

Participation Report

21 students wrote the tests

-4 were ESL*

-5 were Special Education*

-13 were regular students

*Some students were double coded

Next Steps: School Councils and School Staff

What are the strengths of our instructional programs?

*balanced literacy – teacher commitment to guided reading daily

*students are higher on informational items due to deliberate purchase of non-fiction resources for guided and home reading

*lots of hands-on materials, use of Blanche Lamont resources and purchase of Key Materials for test-taking practice

*student support team that provides ESL support and modified programming

Discussion

What are the areas requiring improvement?

*how to retrieve information from a passage

i.e. opinion to support a statement

character motivation

author’s purpose

*increased focus on visual literacy i.e. graphic organizers, pictures, graphs and charts to interpret, organize and present knowledge

*writing-conventions (Gr. 3)

-sentence structure (Gr. 6)

-organization and content

Areas requiring improvement

*Math-number concepts

i.e. fractions, regrouping, decimals

*Social Studies-skills and knowledge

What factors could be contributing to our students’ performance?

*More children are writing the test- higher populations in both Grade 3 and 6

*More movement of children into the school especially in Grade 5/6

*More ESL students

Next Steps: School Councils and School Staff

What are our school achievement targets for this year?

*5% more students will be at the acceptable standard

*5% more students will be at the excellence standard

Discussion

What plans address the areas requiring improvement and help students succeed?

*Following the Class Size Initiative

*Support in target areas-Guided Reading and Guided Writing

*AISI- staff PD to explore most effective ways of using inquiry to improve student achievement

*casino money used to purchase home reading materials, to sponsor an artist in residency and to purchase Blanche Lamont materials

Continued

*Professional development for teachers in Math

*Focused work on writing by bringing in authors

*Purchase of new Social Studies materials