Numbers in for Provincial Exam Results
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
2008EDUC0160-001865
Dec. 10, 2008
Ministry of Education
VICTORIA – The latest data on B.C. student achievement, including results from the 2007/08 provincial exams, show that performance results remain consistent with past years, Education Minister Shirley Bond said today.
“Across the province, our students continue to perform at a high level,” said Bond. “Educators are striving to help them develop the necessary knowledge and skills they need to move on to post-secondary education or the job market.”Despite little change in overall exam or course pass rates, more students scored in the highest grade range on their exams in 2007/08. Of the 13 courses with required examinations, nine saw increases in the proportion of students who received a letter grade of ‘A’ by achieving a percentage score from 86 to 100.
Final pass rates for courses with required provincial exams ranged from 92 to 99 per cent, which is consistent with the results from previous years. All three Grade 10 Math courses with required exams – Principles of Mathematics 10, Applications of Mathematics 10, and Essentials of Mathematics 10 – had pass rates of 92 per cent. Communications 12 and English 12 both had pass rates of 98 per cent.
Along with the provincial exams, completion rates are an important source of information that the Ministry of Education uses to assess the performance of students and the provincial education system.
Completion rates reached a record high of 80 per cent overall and 48 per cent for Aboriginal students in 2006/07, but declined slightly this year to 79 per cent and 47 per cent, respectively. Prior to last year’s increase, overall rates had been holding steady at 79 per cent for four consecutive years. Aboriginal completion rates have been at either 47 or 48 per cent in each of the last five years. Completion rates have increased by five per cent since 2001.
“We are closely examining these results to determine possible causes for the slight decline and are working with districts to ensure that there is follow up with each student that did not complete school,” said Bond. “One possible reason we are exploring is whether the change is linked to the booming economy earlier this year that may have seen students moving into the job market before completing secondary school.”
Government is looking to further improve student achievement. Recent measures include creating provincial superintendents of achievement who are working closely with boards of education to examine student outcomes. Specifically, these superintendents are helping districts follow up with each student that has not completed high school to find out why they did not complete and what measures would have helped them achieve this goal. Legislation requires boards of education and district superintendents to be accountable for specific student achievement goals that are set in annual achievement contracts. LearnNow BC, the Province’s virtual school, is also providing students with more choice and first-rate tutoring, no matter where they live in B.C.
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This year’s provincial exam results are available online at: www.bced.gov.bc.ca/reporting/exams/. Completion rates are available online at: www.bced.gov.bc.ca/reporting/grad/grad-rpt.php
1 backgrounder and 1 factsheet can be found at: www.mediaroom.gov.bc.ca/DisplayEventDetails.aspx?eventId=432
Media contact:
Public Affairs Bureau
Ministry of Education
250 356-5963
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