Student Achievement - 29 April - 2008

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Quebec teenagers take first place in math, reading on new national test

JILL MAHONEY

EDUCATION REPORTER

April 29, 2008

Quebec teenagers rank first in reading and math in a new national test, according to results released yesterday.

In addition, 88 per cent of 13-year-olds across Canada met or exceeded the expected level for reading, although girls outscored boys.

"We are getting world-class results in Canadian schools in this area. Having said that, though, we still need to do better," said Kelly Lamrock, New Brunswick's Education Minister and the chairman of the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada.

While Quebec teens were tops in reading and math, Alberta students took first in science. Ontario students placed second in reading and math, and third in science. Teenagers in the other jurisdictions scored below the Canadian mean, with those from Prince Edward Island hovering at or near the bottom of the pack.

Quebec students' performance may be because of the province's "formidable record" of investing in early-childhood education and interventions for struggling pupils, Mr. Lamrock said.

The reading assessment found significant differences between girls and boys. Twenty-six per cent of girls achieved the superior level compared with 19 per cent of boys. Thirteen per cent of boys scored at the bottom level versus 9 per cent of girls. (Students' results were categorized into three levels.)

"This is a similar experience whether you're in Toronto or you're in rural Prince Edward Island," Mr. Lamrock said, noting the trend also exists in other countries.

However, there were no differences between boys' and girls' scores in math and science.

Francophone students outside Quebec underperformed in reading and math, with scores below the Canadian mean. Lower achievement by minority language pupils is a continuation of past trends, said Raymond Théberge, director-general of CMEC, which administers the test.

Mr. Lamrock said it is important to measure Canadian students' achievement in cornerstone subject areas, noting that the results give politicians and school administrators the opportunity to learn from each other.

"Very simply, what we are trying to do is to evaluate, find what is working, find where there are problem areas so we can better share what works and we can also have a national conversation about what we need to do to improve," he said.

The evaluation, which is known as the Pan-Canadian Assessment Program, was administered for the first time in the spring of 2007 to about 30,000 randomly selected students, mostly in Grades 8 or 9, in all provinces and Yukon. The test, which focused on literacy but also tested math and science, was designed to assess knowledge of common areas of the curriculum of all 11 jurisdictions.

The test, which replaces a previous assessment, was developed to better measure recent curriculum changes as well as correspond with international evaluations.