Rocky View Schools (RVS) trustees may have lifted their eyebrows in concern when they learned last week that the division's Grade 6 and 9 students have fallen below the Alberta average in terms of Provincial Achievement Test (PAT) scores in recent years.
The results were presented at the RVS Board of Trustees meeting on Dec. 15, showcasing a decline in standardized test scores for local students in both grades 6 and 9 in virtually every core subject.
According to the report, RVS has dropped about 10 per cent overall in each of the PAT's core subject areas. Curiously though, the Annual Education Results report indicated RVS' Grade 12 diploma results were still in line with Alberta's average.
There's plenty of speculation as to what could have caused this drop in test scores, but our newsroom's theory is that the division's ever-increasing enrolment hasn't helped matters. The school divisions and schools that tend to score highest on these tests are the ones with small class sizes, where students can receive more individual attention from their teachers.
As we've previously reported, RVS is in a difficult situation right now, as many schools within the division are operating at or over their enrolment capacity. Many local schools have large class sizes, where one-on-one time between a student and their teacher is simply not a luxury they get to enjoy very often.
Granted, standardized testing is (rightfully) no longer the be-all, end-all when it comes to academic achievement. In recent years in education pedagogy, less reliance and focus has been lumped on how much students can memorize in the short-term to perform well on these standardized tests, and more so on how well they actually understand and retain the material being taught.
But it was still a fairly alarming revelation at last week's board of trustees meeting to learn how much RVS has fallen behind in terms of its standardized test scores, there's no doubt about it.
