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Aspen View students on par with province in Grade 6 PATs, but Grade 9 falling behind

Local Grade 12 students scoring behind the rest of Alberta in every diploma exam
Aspen View Public Schools
Provincial testing and diploma exam results raised some concerns for the trustees of Aspen View Public Schools.

ATHABASCA – Provincial testing and diploma exam results all over the map for Aspen View Public Schools (AVPS) students.

While Grade 6 students in AVPS were generally on par with the rest of Alberta in terms of Provincial Achievement Test (PAT) results, Grade 9 students struggled to have the same success, and Grade 12 students trailed the province in every subject tested as part of the diploma exams.

That was the extremely mixed news delivered to Aspen View trustees at their Jan. 19 meeting by Associate Supt. Katherine Mann, who presented an update on the 2021-2022 PAT and diploma exam results alongside her Human Resources report. Both were accepted by the trustees for information.

“Overall, with our Provincial Achievement Tests, you’ll see that at the acceptable standard, we’re fairly comparable to Alberta,” she said. "When we look at the diploma exams overall, it’s less of a good news story, I would say.”

From best to the worst

Aspen View had 67.4 per cent of Grade 6 and 9 students achieve an acceptable standard of 50 per cent or higher on all PATs, while 67.3 per cent of Alberta students did the same, a difference of only 0.1 per cent higher.

Also, 14.8 percent of Aspen View students achieved a standard of excellence, achieving 80 percent or higher, while 18 percent of students provincially did the same. That’s a difference of 3.2 per cent less than the provincial average.

Some of the best PAT results were in Grade 6 English Language Arts, where 83.1 per cent of students achieved an acceptable standard versus 76.1 per cent of the province; Science 6 showed 77.5 per cent of students achieved the acceptable standard versus 71.4 per cent of students provincially; and Social Studies 6, where 74 per cent of students achieved the standard versus 67.9 per cent provincially.

Grade 6 French Immersion

French Immersion 6 also saw local students far exceed provincial results; 100 per cent of local students achieved the acceptable standard in Math 6 and Science 6 versus 77.5 and 73.3 per cent respectively across the province.

Meanwhile, 46.7 per cent of local students achieved a standard of excellence in Science 6 versus 15.9 per cent provincially.

Also, 53.3 per cent of Aspen View students achieved a standard of excellence in French Immersion Social Studies 6 versus 12.5 per cent provincially.

Grade 9 testing

Grade 9 students taking Knowledge and Employability (K&E) courses also did quite well. A total of 90.5 per cent of local students achieved an acceptable standard in K&E Science 9 versus 57.7 per cent throughout the province, a difference of 32.8 per cent.

As well, 76.9 per cent of local students achieved an acceptable standard in K&E English Language Arts 9 versus 50.5 per cent throughout the province, while 80.7 per cent of local students achieved the acceptable standard in K&E Math 9 versus 54.9 of Alberta students.

“Our strength is definitely in the Grade 6 and the French Immersion and the Knowledge and Employability,” Mann said.

At the Grade 9 level, however, Aspen View students were either just on par with the province or a little below. Only 38.6 per cent of local students achieved an acceptable standard in Math 9 versus 51.6 per cent of students provincially, a difference of 13 per cent.

Furthermore, 50.5 per cent of students achieved an acceptable standard in Social Studies 9 versus 60 per cent of students provincially.

The one area where Aspen View’s Grade 9 students did well was in Science 9, as 67.8 percent achieved an acceptable standard versus 67.2 percent provincially. Also, 19.8 per cent of local students reached the standard of excellence versus 22.7 per cent of students provincially.

Grade 9 French Immersion

French Immersion 9 students were also on par with their provincial counterparts except in French Language 9, where only 57.1 per cent of local students achieved an acceptable standard versus 73.5 per cent of students provincially, and Social Studies 9, where 57.1 per cent of students reached the acceptable standard versus 74.2 per cent of students provincially.

Diploma exam results

And then there are the diploma exam results, where only 56 per cent of Aspen View students achieved an acceptable standard on all tests versus 75.2 per cent provincially, a difference of 19.2 per cent.

The best local results were in Physics 30, where 78.6 per cent of local students achieved an acceptable average versus 79.5 per cent of students provincially. However, even in that subject, only 21.4 per cent of students locally achieved a standard of excellence versus 35.5 per cent of students provincially.

The worst result was in Math 30-1, where only 16.7 per cent of students achieved the acceptable standard versus 64.4 per cent of students provincially. Math 30-2 also had a poor showing, as only 25 per cent of students reached the acceptable standard versus 62.1 per cent of students provincially.

Local students also tested poorly in Science 30, with only 41.7 per cent achieving an acceptable standard versus 75.9 per cent provincially, and Social 30-1, where only 58.1 per cent of local students achieved an acceptable standard versus 82.1 per cent provincially.

Mann noted that the weighting of the diploma exams, which is 10 per cent of a student’s mark, should be considered, as it influences how seriously students will prepare for the exams.

Trustee reaction

Board chair Candy Nikipelo said it was obvious that some work was needed in certain subjects, highlighting the poor results in Math 30-1 and 30-2.

However, she agreed that the lower weighting of diploma exams likely impacted the results of Aspen View students.

She also acknowledged that this was a transition year, as the COVID pandemic was ending, and students were adjusting to in-person classes once again.

“There’s always room for work, but we do have to think about that when we’re looking at these numbers,” she said.

Vice-chair Anne Karczmarczyk also noted the class sizes in French Immersion were smaller and there was a greater opportunity for success.

She said she was looking forward to next year’s diploma exams so the division can really determine what it should be doing.

“It comes up at parent council, it comes up at this table, it comes up in the community – what do we do? Are we doing prep courses? Are we doing additional supports? Are we looking at what’s happening throughout the course of the year?”

Karczmarczyk added Grade 12 students are walking into diploma exams knowing their mark is going down regardless of how they did otherwise.

“They really work hard throughout the year, they may have an inflated mark … but they automatically know their mark is going down,” she said.

Trustee April Bauer suggested local schools were subject to more disruption than some urban schools, as city students would have spent an entire semester online or in small cohorts.

Supt. Neil O’Shea said there is an administration retreat coming up on Feb. 22-24 and the PAT and diploma exam results will be one of the subjects up for discussion.

He said they must look at factors like how the school year is structured, how much time students are spending away from school, and so forth.

“I think we need to dig deeper into all of those areas and start to have that discussion. We will be opening up that discussion in February, for sure.”

Later, when Karczmarczyk brought up the possibility of offering diploma preparation courses, Mann indicated they had that discussion early in the year about whether there was a need for such courses.

School administrators were against the idea, in part because local students could go into Edmonton or other centres to access those supports.

Mann said she also believed the impact of diploma prep courses was “kind of questionable” and believed that the solution was deeper than two or three weekends of repetition and hammering facts into students’ brains.

“I think what’s key is building a better conceptual understanding,” she said. “But it’s a conversation that we can return to.”

O’Shea added that they have the right person — Mann herself — leading this work, highlighting her high school background and the conversations she’s had in recent months with school administrators about timetabling.

“I’m really confident moving forward under Ms. Mann’s leadership in this area,” he said.

Kevin Berger, TownandCountryToday.com

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