N.B. provincial testing reveals slight drop in Grade 2 students’ reading abilities

Grade 2 students in New Brunswick are still struggling with standardized reading, according to assessment results from the province’s education department.

The results released Wednesday reveal that 71.3 per cent of second-grade anglophone students were successful on the provincial reading assessment. Just over 75 per cent of francophone Grade 2 students passed the provincial oral reading assessment, but just 62.6 per cent of francophone Grade 2 students were successful on the standard reading test.

Only 61.1 per cent of Grade 6 anglophone students and 62.6 per cent of Grade 3 francophone students, respectively, were successful on the provincial reading assessment.

Despite the moderately low figures, New Brunswick Education Minister Dominic Cardy says the overall results of the assessment are positive.

“While these results are positive in some areas, we know there is an opportunity to improve in others, such as the Grade 2 reading performance,” Cardy said in a statement on Wednesday.

“We have committed to achieving an 85 per cent literacy target by 2022.”

Provincial assessments are done every year for reading, writing, math, science and French, and the results are given to parents, schools and school districts. Teachers, administrators and school district staff use the results to target improvements and interventions for the given subjects.

The assessment program is currently undergoing a review that began in 2016-17. The province says plans will be developed to address the recent downward trend in second graders’ reading capabilities.

First Grade 10 math, science report revealed

For the first time, the math and science abilities of tenth graders in New Brunswick are being reported.

According to the Department of Education, about 64 per cent of students were successful in mathematics and scientific literacy.

The province says in the francophone sector at the high school level, student achievement is down slightly in Grade 11 French and Grade 10 mathematics in Path A, but the results for Grade 10 mathematics in Path BC have increased significantly each year over the past four years.

First standardized test for fourth graders 

New Brunswick students in Grade 4 wrote a provincial assessment in reading, mathematics and science for the first time this year.

The test in the pilot phase will assess the appropriateness of test items, the department says. That means test results will not be generated.

The official assessment will be implemented in the spring of 2019, with results available next fall.

Increase in anglophone Grade 9 reading abilities

In the anglophone sector, 80.6 per cent of Grade 9 students were successful in the provincial reading assessment. The province says that continues a gradual improvement since the assessment was first written in 2006, when 59.9 per cent of students were successful.

Results of the Pan-Canadian Assessment Program and the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) at the middle and high school levels indicate that more than 80 per cent of New Brunswick students were successful in mathematics and science. On the PISA assessment, 84 per cent of Grade 10 students were successful in science.

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