Transcript Provincial Achievement Testing

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
English Language Arts
Part A - Writing
70 minutes
May
Part B - Reading
60 minutes
June
6 minutes
May
60 minutes
June
Mathematics
Timed Number Facts
Multiple Choice
Achievement Tests - Grade 6
English Language Arts
Part A - Writing
120 minutes
May
Part B - Reading
60 minutes
June
Operations and Number Sense
30 minutes
May
Multiple Choice
60 minutes
June
60 minutes
June
60 minutes
June
Mathematics
Science
Multiple Choice
Social Studies
Multiple Choice
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
School
Results
2005
Provincial
Results
Acceptable
93.0%
91.1%
Excellence
9.3%
18.0%
Below Acc.
7.0%
8.9%
Acceptable
95.3%
88.5%
Excellence
16.3%
29.0%
Below Acc.
4.7%
11.5%
School
Targets
English Language Arts
Mathematics
Results
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
School
Results
2005
Provincial
Results
English Language Arts Acceptable
90.5%
85.9%
Excellence
4.8%
17.2%
Below Acc.
9.5%
14.1%
Acceptable
90.5%
85.7%
Excellence
19.0%
19.9%
Below Acc.
9.5%
14.3%
Acceptable
85.7%
88.1%
Excellence
19.0%
29.2%
Below Acc.
14.3%
11.9%
Acceptable
81.0%
87.2%
Excellence
4.8%
24.4%
19.0%
12.8%
School
Targets
Mathematics
Science
Social Studies
Below Acc.
Results
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