National test results for Newfoundland and Labrador science students

The second Canada-wide report on student performance in science was released today by the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC). In April 1999 close to 2,000 students from this province were among the young Canadians, aged 13 and 16, who wrote the science assessment as part of the School Achievement Indicators Program (SAIP). This science assessment was essentially the same as the first test, conducted in 1996, and allows provinces and territories to assess their progress in science and compare results over time.

The assessment comprises a written and a practical component. Tests were evaluated based on five levels of achievement, where each level denotes the scientific concepts that students should know and the tasks they should be able to perform for their age group. Thirteen-year-olds are expected to achieve level 2 and 16-year-olds should achieve level 3. Both age groups receive the same test.

"Compared with our 1996 results, a substantially higher proportion of our students in both age groups achieved at the higher performance levels (levels 3, 4 and 5) with correspondingly fewer students achieving at the lower levels (levels 1 and 2)," said Education Minister Judy Foote.

"However, the performance of 13 year-olds is below expectations for that age group," the minister continued. "While the performance of our students improved, so did the that of Canadian students as a group. If we compare results for our 13 year-olds to those for Canada as a whole, we find the proportion of students at or above their expected level (level 2) is below the Canadian average. Clearly, this is an area where we must focus our energies. While we can take some measure of satisfaction in the fact that there have been gains in achievement, we must concentrate our efforts to improve in our weaker areas."

Major findings for Newfoundland and Labrador students include:

Students, in general, showed improved performance on the 1999 assessment over 1996.

73 per cent of 16-year-olds performed at or above their expected level of achievement (level 3) in 1999. Their performance was consistent with the Canadian average. (With 64 per cent performing at that level in 1996, this is a 14 per cent improvement in performance.)

68 per cent of 13-year-olds performed at or above their expected level of achievement for their age group (level 2). Their performance was below the Canadian average, however the percentage of students in this age group who performed at a level above expectations (level 3) increased by 23 per cent over 1996. (38 per cent performed at level 3 in 1996 and 47 per cent performed at that level in 1999.)

Generally, both 13-year-olds and 16-year-olds performed at the Canadian average at the higher levels.

Media contact: Andrea Maunder, Director of Communications, (709) 729-0048.

2000 06 02                         4:25 p.m.