Math Results Not Surprising, Says Purves

Nova Scotia students are not the only ones struggling with math. Results of a national assessment released today show that students across the country are having difficulties.

The School Achievement Indicators Program tested 41,000 students aged 13 and 16 years on math in April and May 2001. The results did not meet national expectations.

"These results are not a surprise to us," said Education Minister Jane Purves. "They are consistent with the provincial math results we announced last month, and they're simply not acceptable."

Some students in each age group wrote a math content test of the national assessment while others wrote a problem-solving test.

In comparison with the 1997 assessment, the overall Canadian results improved somewhat for both age groups in problem solving, and for 13-year-olds in math content. Scores went down significantly for 16-year-olds in math content.

About 3,280 anglophone and 380 francophone students from Nova Scotia participated in the assessment. Anglophone students are those who study in English or French immersion. Francophone students study in French.

Compared to their performance in the 1997 assessment, students' scores improved in problem solving, but went down in math content.

The province's francophone students performed at the national average in both components of the assessment for 16-year-olds. The 13-year-olds performed at the national level in problem solving, but below it in math content.

Anglophone students scored below the national average in both tests and in both age groups.

"We know that our students can do better than this," said Ms. Purves. "We have high expectations, and we have initiatives under way to help students improve their learning and achievement."

In March 2002, the minister announced an action plan to improve student learning in reading, writing and math. Part of the plan is Math Matters, a comprehensive strategy to help students gain a strong foundation in math skills.

The math strategy includes more text books and learning resources for students, and more resources for teachers, such as sample lesson plans and other learning activities. It will also include professional development for 880 teachers this spring.

Ms. Purves noted that, despite an increase of $100 million for the public school system in the past five years, most testing scores are still going down or are unacceptably low.

"Pouring more money into the system without focusing on the results would not improve our students' math scores on any tests," said Ms. Purves. "We're making targeted investments with the money we have to support students and teachers where they need it most."

The Minister's Action Plan is available on the Department of Education Web site, at http://www.ednet.ns.ca/ministers_report.html.

The School Achievement Indicators Program is administered by the Council of Ministers of Education Canada. The report on the 2001 national math assessment is available on the council's Web site, at www.cmec.ca/saip .