The following was sent to media outlets in response to a media release from Kids Come First regarding our math results.
The facts as presented in the Kids Come First news release are misleading and inaccurate. Our comprehensive reporting to the Province, and to our Board of Trustees demonstrates that overall, CBE students are performing well in math.
We are however committed to improving our results. Success in math is an area of focus for us and for the province as a whole. That’s why we are working with our teachers, parents and students to develop a K-12 math strategy.
On Provincial Achievement Tests, the CBE reports on every student enrolled, while other jurisdictions may choose to report only on those students who wrote the test. This means that our results include students who may have been absent or choose not to write for a variety of reasons. This negatively impacts our overall results, but aligns with our objective of encouraging every student to participate fully in the program of study, including writing the Provincial Achievement Test.
A more comprehensive way to look at math achievement is to consider report card data and standardized test results together. Report cards, for example, include a more complete range of learning outcomes than can be assessed compared to a single standardized test. Our report card results show that:
- Over 90 per cent of our Grade 6 students have successfully met the four curriculum outcomes.
- Over 90 per cent of our Grade 9 students have successfully met these outcomes, except for complex problem solving, where 87 per cent of students have met these outcomes.
On math Provincial Achievement Tests:
- A higher percentage of Grade 6 students achieved at the acceptable standard and the standard of excellence than the province. In addition, we have improved both at the standard of excellence at Grade 6 and at the acceptable standard in Grade 9 when compared to the province.
- A higher percentage of Grade 9 CBE students achieved at the acceptable standard and at the standard of excellence compared to the province.
All of our reports related to multi-year Provincial Achievement Tests and report card results, including this link to our math information report, are posted on our website.
Resources to help parents understand what students need to know at each grade level as well as other materials related to our K-12 math strategy engagement are available on our website. Other math resources are also available on our website.
The CBE carefully manages its board and system administration costs. All boards are required by Alberta Education to report on this amount annually. The CBE, like the other metro boards, has board and system administration costs that are less than three per cent. This information is contained in our 2016-17 budget report and other financial documents, and on the Alberta Education website.
We are a well-managed and highly regulated organization. Accurate financial information is easily accessible on our website.