Math improving at South Shore schools

Seventy-six per cent of students attending English-language schools on the South Shore met expectations (72 per cent provincially), an increase from 65.8 per cent in the 2007 assessment (66.8 provincially). “The South Shore Regional School Board has established goals backed by an investment in improving literacy and mathematics skills,” said Nancy Pynch-Worthylake. “The Assessment is one tool we use to evaluate progress and these results show we are moving in the right direction.”

The assessment measured the full range of math concepts students are expected to understand by the end of Grade 3.

Students improved in each of all six areas of the mathematics curriculum addressed by the assessment, including number, operations, patterns, measurement, geometry, and data and probability. Other skills students are expected to be competent in include mental math, calculation and problem solving.

To meet expectations, students needed to correctly answer two-thirds of the questions, a standard that was set high to reflect the level of understanding students need as a foundation for future success in mathematics.

The assessment, administered to almost 8,800 Grade 3 students over three days last June, highlights each student's strengths and areas needing further development.

Individual student results were sent home to parents and guardians last week. Each report indicates whether the student is meeting or not yet meeting expectations.

Teachers, who received their student's individual results in Nov., are using information from the assessment to select specific instructional strategies to strengthen math skills and to address the identified needs of students not yet meeting expectations. Students most in need of help receive targeted support and their teachers will track intervention and their progress.

More detailed information, including school-by-school results will be available in the Minister of Education’s report to parents, which will be published this spring.