P.E.I. considers changes to new high school math assessment

Officials with P.E.I.'s Department of Education say it's considering changes to the way the province's Grade 11 math assessment is administered following widespread criticism voiced by the province's new district advisory councils.

The exam was written by Grade 11 students across the province for the first time in 2015.

Students will continue to write the Grade 11 math assessment in the upcoming school year, but based on the concerns raised by the DACs, there has definitely been discussions about re-evaluating the process of administering the assessment.— Department of Education spokesperson

In the inaugural year, the average score for students in the province's general Grade 11 math course (521A) was 55 per cent. The average score among those in pre-calculus math (521B) was 61 per cent. Some schools saw pass rates of less than 50 per cent.

The new assessments take the place of the Grade 11 final exam for mathematics, and count as 25 per cent of a student's final mark.

Scholarships affected, students concerned

According to the published notes from the first round of meetings of the province's district advisory councils earlier this year, the Grade 11 math assessments were a repeated topic of discussion and concern.

"Grade 11 math exams were a big topic of discussion,"read the notes for the Morell/Souris District Advisory Council meeting held on Feb. 11.

"Parents upset and students stressed out. Results affected scholarships. Students concerned about low results. Was it the instruction? The test? They wanted to know what instruction helped those students who aced the test. Students felt it was often a very broad mystery why students got the marks they did. Assessments should not have such a large per centage of overall mark attached to them."

Concerns throughout the province

Almost every other advisory council expressed concerns about the Grade 11 math assessment:

• "There is a lot of pressure on students for marks, to succeed in high stakes assessments. Grade 11 math assessment created high pressure." (Colonel Gray District Advisory Council)
• "The focus should be on helping students who need help not getting a higher mark on an assessment. Can we move resources away from assessments and put it into librarians, coaches, etc." (Bluefield District Advisory Council)
• "Not enough time to complete the exam. The online examples were much easier than the actual assessment — not realistic examples. The exam was worded/presented in a very different way that it was taught." (Kensington/Kinkora District Advisory Council)
• "Grade 11 math is an issue as students can appear to do okay in the course throughout the semester but then the assessment is 30 per cent of the overall mark.  This causes anxiety and greatly affects the marks of some students." (Three Oaks District Advisory Council)
• "Many felt assessments are a cause of stress for students, and concerns over Grade 11 math assessment being worth too much in final grades." (Westisle District Advisory Council)

Next round on June 10

Grade 11 students are preparing to write the next round of math assessments on June 10. Changes will be considered after this round is concluded, according to the Department of Education.

"Students will continue to write the Grade 11 math assessment in the upcoming school year, but based on the concerns raised by the DACs, there has definitely been discussions about re-evaluating the process of administering the assessment," a department spokesperson said in an email to CBC News.

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"The initial discussions concern how to make the assessment run more smoothly, help students better prepare and reduce anxiety over the assessment, and how to better use the data gathered from the assessment
to help students."

The department says staffing changes related to the integration of the English Language School Board are still underway.

Once those are complete, "department staff will be considering the concerns raised by the DACs — on assessment and in other areas."

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