Grade ten students’ drop in performance could lead to changes in schools

Literacy and numeracy in grade ten has been historically below the expected grade level performance in grade ten for SD57, and the recent drop prompted a discussion on how to improve results at yesterday’s board meeting.

“It’s a good indicator that we need to make some adjustments and we need to improve some things, and we need to connect with our students in a much more collaborative way than perhaps we have been previously,” Aziz said.

“There’s more support needed in schools. Because of the teacher shortage, we do have challenges with that. With more support in schools, students will do better when they can get the specialized support that they need if they’re struggling, then we’re going to see results go up,” added the President of the Prince George District Teachers’ Association Katherine Trepanier.

More support would certainly be welcome, but Aziz added a lot of discussion going forward could also potentially include larger changes to school programming as a whole. Explaining that a large part of grade ten results is what happens in grades eight and nine, Aziz says potential changes to these grades and the programming could be in the works.

“That is a conversation that we’re having now as a school district with our high schools and with our staff to really start to maybe reimagine what our grade eight-nine programing looks like, and to make sure that we are still building on those core literacy and numeracy pieces that we know are focused on in K-7,” Aziz said.

Both Aziz and Trepanier mentioned this drop is just a snapshot, and Trepanier wanted to highlight how school is about more than just one test result.

“We’re focused on academics, obviously, but we’re also focused on students’ personal development or social development, building respect, building responsibility,” Trepanier said.

“Tests are always a snapshot of the day that the student writes them. I would say more important than those provincial assessments or any standardized test, really, is the teaching and the learning that’s happening in the classroom every day,” she added.

Trepanier also pointed out that prior to the dip in 2022/23, the numbers were seeing a steady increase, so overall the trend remains positive. However, the dip, plus the fact that grade ten students in SD57 continue to be below the expected proficiency levels in numeracy and literacy anyways, has SD57 continuing to discuss potential solutions.

“We have to think long term, not short term. We have to really work with our teaching staff, with our educators, to make sure that they have the skills, the vocabulary, and the training that’s necessary to move our kids past some of those hurdles that they have in place right now,” Aziz said.

While it’s too early to say what types of changes will be made, it’s likely that programming not just for grade 10, but the previous years, could look different in the following years to see the literacy and numeracy levels rise up to and even beyond the expected grade level.

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by Tommy Osborne

Grade ten students’ drop in performance could lead to changes in schools

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