News Releases
Government Home Search Sitemap Contact Us  


November 4, 1996
(Education)


Key Stages: A parents' guide to student learning outcomes

The 1992 report of the Royal Commission on Education emphasized the importance of having high expectations and standards in our schools. It also called for greater accountability to parents and the public. The document Key Stages: A Parents' Guide to Student Learning Outcomes is designed to contribute to both of these purposes.

The Minister of Education, Roger Grimes, says Key Stages will be available immediately for parents of students in grades three, six and nine, through school principals. Student learning outcomes are intended to inform parents of what their children are expected to know, value and be able to do by the end of the primary, elementary and intermediate grades. At the same time, these learning outcomes should be the subject of debate over whether our expectations are realistic.

Key Stages contains student learning outcomes for Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Art, Core French, Francais, Health, Home Economics, Music, Physical Education, and Social Studies. A Key Stages Supplement, developed by the Denominational Education Councils, contains student learning outcomes for Religious Education. The Physical Education learning outcomes are a very early draft and represent a small sample of those under development for a new program.

Student learning outcomes in Key Stages are based upon current curriculum at the time the documents were prepared. Since curriculum is constantly being revised and updated, new programming such as Technology Education and the most recent changes to Language Arts and Mathematics are not reflected in this document but will be incorporated at a later date.

The Key Stages document presents the breadth of this province's curriculum at the Primary, Elementary and Intermediate levels. "It speaks to the commitment the province has to providing a balanced curriculum, while at the same time recognizing the need for greater emphasis on Language Arts, Mathematics and Science as recommended by the Royal Commission," said Mr. Grimes.

The learning outcomes presented in this document have been condensed from a more complete list of outcomes being developed. The more detailed sets of outcomes will be found in curriculum guides which are provided to teachers. Parents are requested to contact the school principal to obtain a copy of Key Stages.

Contact: Carl Cooper, (709) 729-0048 or 729-5040.

1996 11 04 11:00 a.m.

SearchHomeBack to GovernmentContact Us


All material copyright the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. No unauthorized copying or redeployment permitted. The Government assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of any material deployed on an unauthorized server.
Disclaimer/Copyright/Privacy Statement