Student assessment scores slip in some areas

The results of assessmenttests given to P.E.I. students by the provincial government have been released, and they are slipping in many areas.

Individual test results have been sent home with students, and results by school are available online.

The province administers the tests to identify gaps in learning and to implement new education strategies, said Education Minister Alan McIsaac.

Students are tested in grades 3, 6 and 9 in reading, writing and mathematics.

Overall the results show grade 9 student results remain relatively steady, and grade 6 students showed particular improvement in math.

In a news release McIsaac saidstudent writing is a problem across the board.

"In some areas of writing, we have concerns about our students' results, so we will use this assessment data to guide our efforts in supporting student writing," said McIsaac.

While acknowledging writing is an issue, the Education Department says the declining numbers are somewhat misleading.

The numbers, it said, have been dragged down somewhat by weaker students writing the assessment that a few years ago would not have written it all. Those are students who were in modified programs that exempted them from writing past assessments.

Improved interventions, according to the department, mean more of those students have improved their literacy abilities and now qualify to write.

In addition, the department says some areas of writing have actually improved. One particular aspect of writing - spelling, grammar, punctuation has worsened, dragging down the overall results.

'Rosy spin'

Opposition leader Steven Myers said the results paint a bleak picture of education in the province.

"Despite the rosy spin from the Education Minister the fact remains that large swaths of Island students are not meeting even the Ghiz government's own somewhat murky criteria for success," said Myers in a news release.

Myers noted that othertests taken by Island students that are administered outside the province show similar poor results.