Encouraging Signs from PEI

In 2006-2007, PEI administered its first set of provincial assessments in Grade 3 and Grade 9. But even more important, the province released the results of those assessments publicly, school by school, meaning that parents, students, and the general public have easy access to this valuable information.

“That school by school step is of critical importance to parents, students and educators alike,” says AIMS Executive Vice President Charles Cirtwill. “An indepth study in 2007 by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) found a direct link between a country’s achievement on the Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA) and the publication of performance results at the school level. The performance improvement was significant even when socio-economic and demographic variables were considered.”

Unfortunately, PEI still does not have provincial examinations at the high school level. While missing the provincial exam indictor, the AIMS 6th Annual Report Card for Atlantic Canadian High Schools still includes extensive data sets for other indicators in PEI. The data sets include teacher-assigned grades in four subject areas: math, science, language arts, and humanities; data for all engagement measures except attendance, and a valid post-secondary indicator despite the refusal of UPEI to provide data on the performance of its first year students.

For the third consecutive year, Souris Regional High School maintains its standing as the top school in the province, despite its overall grade falling from an ‘A-’ to a ‘B+’. Kensington Intermediate Senior High had the largest grade improvement from last year’s report card, improving two grade levels from a ‘C’ to a ‘B-’.

AIMS encourages everyone to look beyond the overall rankings to explore the performance of each school across all of the categories. The On-Line report card on the AIMS website (www.AIMS.ca) provides the public with all the available measures for 312 high schools in Atlantic Canada. The on-line report card allows users to access individual school data, compare schools, and also compare results based on specific criteria.

Again this year, AIMS mailed individual report cards to every high school, parent-teacher association, student council and school board in the region so they could have the information before it became public. Similar packages were sent to municipalities and Chambers of Commerce throughout the region. The individual school report cards remind recipients that AIMS is always happy to visit to discuss the report card and how it can be used as a tool for reform.

The AIMS high school report card is published annually in Progress business magazine and a complete copy can be found as a centre insert in this month’s issue. This is the sixth year the magazine has dedicated an edition to the AIMS Report Card.

Follow the links below for more details:

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For further information, contact:

Charles Cirtwill, AIMS executive Vice President
902-489-7699

Bobby O’Keefe, AIMS Senior Policy Analyst
902-222-0944