Provincial Achievement Testing

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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

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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

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Provincial tests tell Albertans

• how well Alberta students are learning the
  Alberta curriculum
• which areas of the curriculum need improvement

• Benefits

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Achievement Tests - Grade 3
English Language Arts
Part A - Writing
70 minutes
May
Part B - Reading
June
60 minutes
Mathematics
Timed Number Facts
May
6 minutes
Multiple Choice
June
60 minutes
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Achievement Tests - Grade 6
English Language Arts
Part A - Writing
120 minutes
May
Part B - Reading
June
60 minutes
Mathematics
Operations and Number Sense
May
30 minutes
Multiple Choice
June
60 minutes
Science
Multiple Choice
June
60 minutes
Social Studies
Multiple Choice
June
60 minutes
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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

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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

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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

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Teacher involvement

• writing, revising and reviewing questions
• setting standards
• developing scoring guides
• field testing
• validating the tests
• administering the tests
• marking the tests

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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

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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

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Sample Question Grade 3 Mathematics
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Sample Question Grade 3 Mathematics
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Sample Question Grade 3 Mathematics

• Core Learning Outcomes
• estimating mass
• using a standard unit (kg)

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Sample Question Grade 6 Science
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Sample Question Grade 6 Science
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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

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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

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School Results Grade 3

• Results

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Participation Report

• 17 students wrote both parts of the test
• -6 were ESL
• -1 was Special Education
• -10 were regular
• - 3 students were absent
• - 2 students were excused

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School Results Grade 6

• Results

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Participation Report

• 43 students wrote the tests
• -16 were ESL
• - 7 were Special Education
• -20 were regular students

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Next Steps School Councils and School Staff

• What are the strengths of our instructional
  programs?
• a three year Alberta Initiative for School
  Improvement (AISI) which focused on Science
• student support team that provides ESL support
  and modified programming
• teacher professional development through
  in-services and workshops with ESL Centre of
  Inquiry

• Discussion

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Areas for the School to focus on
What are the areas requiring improvement?
Timed Math Facts in Gr. 3 Shape and
Space Focus on Perimeter/Area extending a
pattern and statistics in Gr. 6 Focus on
reading narrative and poetic passages in Grade 3
and 6 Distinguishing and supporting facts vs.
opinions in Social Studies
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Significant Factors
What factors could be contributing to our
students performance? More ESL students Number
of students moving into the school throughout the
year
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Multi- Year Results Grade 3 Language Arts

• 2004-2005 N18
• Total Test Language Arts
• Acceptable 16 students (84.2)
• Standard of Excellence 2 students (10.5)
• Below Acceptable Standard 2 students (11.1)
• 2005-2006 N17
• Total Test-Language Arts
• Acceptable 14 students (63.6)
• Standard of Excellence3 students (13.6)
• Below Acceptable Standard3 students (13.6)

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Language Arts Targets for 2006

• An increase of 10 in the number of students at
  the Acceptable Standard in Reading
• 2005 there were 13 students out of the 18
  students who wrote at the acceptable level
  (72.2)
• 2006 there were 14 students out of the 17
  students who wrote at the acceptable level
  (82.4)

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Multi Year Grade 3 Mathematics

• 2004-2005 N 18
• Total Test-Mathematics
• Acceptable14 students (77.8)
• Standard of Excellence3 students (16.7)
• Below Acceptable Standard 4 students (22.2)
• 2005-2006 N17
• Total Test Mathematics
• Acceptable14 students (82.4)
• Standard of Excellence 3 students (17.6)
• Below Acceptable Standard 3 students (18.6)

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Multi-Year Results Grade 6 Language Arts

• 2004-2005 N68
• Total Test Language Arts
• Acceptable 62 students (91.2)
• Standard of Excellence 2 students (11.6)
• Below Acceptable Standard6 students (8.7)
• 2005-2006 N 43
• Total Test Language Arts
• Acceptable 38 students (88.4)
• Standard of Excellence 8 students (18.6)
• Below Acceptable Standard 5 students (11.6)

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Multi-Year Results Grade 6 Mathematics

• 2004-2005 N67
• Total Test Mathematics
• Acceptable 62 students (89.9)
• Standard of Excellence22 students (31.9)
• Below Acceptable Standard 5 students (7.2)
• 2005-2006 N41
• Total Test-Mathematics
• Acceptable 38 students (70.4)
• Standard of Excellence 11 students (20.4)
• Below Acceptable Standard 3 students (5.6)

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Multi-Year Grade 6 Science

• 2004-2005 N68
• Total Test Science
• Acceptable61 students (88.4)
• Standard of Excellence19 students (27.5)
• Below Acceptable Standard7 students (10.1)
• 2005-2006 N43
• Total Test -Science
• Acceptable41 students (95.3)
• Standard of Excellence18 students (41.9)
• Below Acceptable Standard 2 students (4.7)

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Science Targets for 2006

• 90 of the Gr. 6 students will meet the
  acceptable standard on the Science test.
• 2006 Results Total Test 41 students (95.3)
  Knowledge 42 students (97.7) Skills 39 students
  (90.7)

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Multi-Year Grade 6 Social Studies

• 2004-2005 N68
• Total Test Social Studies
• Acceptable 91.3 (63 students)
• Standard of Excellence21.7 (15 students)
• Below Acceptable Standard 7.2 (5 students)
• 2005-2006 N44
• Total Test Social Studies
• Acceptable77.8 (42 students)
• Standard of Excellence22.2 (12 students)
• Below Acceptable Standard 3.7 (2 students)

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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

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Future Plans

• What plans address the areas requiring
  improvement and help students succeed?
• Following the Class Size Initiative
• Support in target area of Guided Writing
• AISI- staff PD to explore multiple literacies to
  support the students learnings

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Future Plans continued

• Professional development for teachers in
  Multiple Literacies
• Focused work on writing by bringing in authors
• Implementing the Calgary Reads program for
  our younger students.