Inequality among P.E.I. students revealed in international testing

P.E.I. students performed relatively well on average in Programme for International Student Assessment testing, but there were significant differences between the strongest and weakest students.

Results for the PISA testing, administered to 15-year-olds around the world last year, were released Tuesday morning. Students from 79 countries and regions — including all 37 OECD countries — were tested in reading, mathematics and science.

Canada ranked high in all categories: sixth in reading, eighth in science, and 12th in math.

Prince Edward Island was close to the national average in all three categories, with scores essentially equal to five other provinces in reading and math, and seven other provinces in science.

"PISA tells us that our education system is working, based on the fact that P.E.I. student performance is similar to other provinces and Canada which is clearly one of the top performing countries in the world," said P.E.I. Education Minister Brad Trivers.

"Comparing P.E.I. directly with results from other countries, we find, for example, that in math our students are on par with countries like Finland, Germany, and the United Kingdom."

Equity an issue

In reading, P.E.I. students scored 503 as compared to 520 nationally. The Island math score was 487, and the Canadian score 512. In science, the P.E.I. score was 502, as compared to 518 for the country as a whole.

But P.E.I. did not perform well in terms of equity of student performance. In a measure of the difference between the students with the best scores and those with the worst, P.E.I. was at the bottom in reading and second from the bottom in science. In math it was close to the average.

The bottom 10 per cent of scores in reading were 271 points lower than the top 10 per cent. Nationally, the difference was 259 points. In science the difference was 256, versus 247 nationally.

Provincial officials noted equity had been one of the Island's strong points in 2015.

Results down from 2015

Across the board, performance fell when compared to peaks achieved in 2015.

Standard error for the measurements on P.E.I. was relatively high, which could explain some of the drop.

In 2015, reading and science scores both peaked at 515 and math at 499.

PISA tests are conducted every three years.

Exclusion rate halved, but still too high

P.E.I.'s exclusion rate — based on the number of students who were excluded from the random draw of names to write the test — was cut in half compared to the last time the test was written. 

But P.E.I.'s seven per cent exclusion rate for 2018 was still the second-highest in the country, and two points above the maximum five per cent allowed under PISA's quality control standard.

P.E.I.'s rate means one out of every 14 students who were eligible to write the test in 2018 were excluded from the sample draw. In 2015, the proportion was one in seven.

Schools can withhold names from the list of eligible students put forward for the draw. P.E.I. designated 4.6 per cent of eligible students as exempt because of an intellectual disability. In 2015, that number was 11.7 per cent.

The province also exempted 1.8 per cent of eligible students citing their limited language skills, the highest rate in the country.

"Further steps will be required in future PISA cycles to address the issue of high exclusion rates for schools and students in some provinces," the report says.

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