'More work to do,' says education minister on PISA test improvements

P.E.I. Education Minister Doug Currie is pleased with the results of international standardized student testing results released Tuesday morning.

P.E.I. was the most improved province in Canada, with better scores in all three areas of testing: math, science and reading.

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"As a province we're pleased to make the gains that we have made," Currie told CBC Radio's Island Morning.

"This is a journey towards continuing to improve the quality of education in our province."

Equitable results

In addition to the overall increase in scores, Currie was also pleased by the small difference between the weakest and the strongest students tested.

The PISA report looked at the spread between high and low scores, comparing the 10 provinces. It found P.E.I. had the most equitable results in all three subject areas.

"Basically, we teach all children here in the province," said Currie.

A middle ranking in Canada

The 2012 test results placed P.E.I. at the bottom of the list of provinces in all subject areas. It now ranks in the middle.

Currie noted students in B.C. and Alberta are world leaders. On the list of 72 countries and 10 provinces tested, they rank in the top three in both science and reading, but Currie takes that as a challenge.

"We have made gains and we've seen improvements, but we're still not leading the country so we've got a lot more work to do."

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