P.E.I. slips in international student testing

The results of the Programme for International Student Assessment, written by 15-year-olds around the world last year, were released Tuesday morning and showed poor results for Prince Edward Island.

The report on the progress of Canadian students as demonstrated by PISA said Canadian students continue to perform well in a global context, but repeatedly singled out P.E.I. as the exception.

PISA tested students in math, reading and science. P.E.I. students performed below the OECD average in all three categories. No other Canadian jurisdiction performed below average in any of them.

Results in math held steady in the first two rounds of tests in 2003 and 2006, but have been in decline since then. PISA says the math tests are designed to measure student readiness for life in a modern society.

"For the last number of years we have focused our efforts on improving literacy skills for Prince Edward Island students," said P.E.I. Education Minister Alan McIsaac in a news release.

"We know that there is more work to be done at the provincial level."

Fewer than one in 10 Island students managed to show high-performing math skills, and P.E.I. had the highest percentage of low-achieving math students. About a quarter achieved only level one, with some not even able to achieve basic concepts.

In reading and science, the report once again singled out P.E.I.

"The performance of students in all provinces, with the exception of Prince Edward Island, was at or above the OECD average," the report says.

"While reading performance did not change significantly for Canada overall between 2000 and 2012, it decreased in Prince Edward Island."

The report is based on tests written by close to 1,300 15-year-old Island students last year, about 99 per cent of students of that age.