Provincial assessments see students come up short

'Some of these results are not what they should be,' says Education Minister Brian Kenny

Image | classroom students desks class elementary

Caption: Provincial assessment results for 2015-16 show New Brunswick students are failing to achieve provincial targets in areas such as reading, writing and mathematics. (Shutterstock/Syda Productions)

New Brunswick's students again failed to achieve targets set by the provincial government in reading and mathematics in provincial assessments last year.
For instance, results released Wednesday by the Department of Education show 54 per cent of Grade 6 anglophone students were successful on the provincial reading assessment, which is far short of the target of an 85 per cent success rate.
Other results include:
  • 74 per cent of Grade 2 anglophone students were successful on the reading assessment (target is 90 per cent);
  • 80 per cent of Grade 9 anglophone students were successful on the reading assessment (target is 85 per cent);
  • 81 per cent of Grade 3 francophone students were successful on the math assessment (target is 85 per cent);
  • 79 per cent of Grade 2 francophone students were successful on the oral reading assessment (target is 85 per cent);
  • 77 per cent of Grade 2 francophone students were successful on the silent reading assessment (target is 85 per cent).
"While we are seeing success in some areas, we know that some of these results are not what they should be," said Education Minister Brian Kenny in a statement.
"We need to improve our outcomes so that our young people are in the best possible position to be successful in life."
The provincial assessments are done annually in reading, writing, math, French and science.
The results for 2015-16 are available online.(external link)