Corresponding Peace Wapiti School Board Goals:

• Establish high standards for the system and focus education to enable students to achieve their maximum potential. 
• Establish an ECS program that is consistent and over the long-term prepares students for entry into the regular school program. 
• Provide at risk students with the opportunity to meet their individual academic needs. 
• Support instructional services in the schools. 

Results Reported: 

• Provincial Achievement Exams 
• Provincial Diploma Exams 
• Parent Satisfaction with Education 
• Student Satisfaction with Education 
• Student Improvement  
• Scholarships
• Early Literacy Initiative
• English as a Second Language

PWSB students are achieving equal to or better results on most achievement exams.  Students writing the Grade 3 exams were equal to the provincial average in achieving the acceptable standard (50% or better). In Grade 3 Language Arts 87.5 percent of students writing the exam achieved the acceptable standard while 9.2 percent achieved excellence (85% or better).  This compares to 89.6 percent and 16.4 percent for the province.  Last year 92.6 percent of grade 3 students in PWSB achieved the acceptable standard.  In Grade 3 Mathematics 88.3 percent of students achieved the acceptable standard while 18.5 percent achieved excellence. This compares to 88.5 percent and 29.2 percent for the province.  Last year 90.5 percent of PWSB students achieved the acceptable standard while 20.3 percent achieved excellence. 

Results for PWSB students in Grade 6 equaled or exceeded provincial results.  In English Language Arts 87.1 percent of PWSB Grade 6 students achieved the acceptable standard and 9.1 achieved excellence compared to 88.6 percent and 16.5 percent provincially.  The is up from last year when 81.7 percent achieved the acceptable standard.  Math results for PWSB Grade 6 students showed 81.2 percent achieving the acceptable standard and 14.1 percent excellence while provincially 77.7 achieved the acceptable standard and 17.7 percent achieved excellence.  Again students were up from last year when 80.3 percent achieved the acceptable standard.   In Science Grade 6 students in PWSB achieved 85.0 percent acceptable standard and 17.7 percent excellence compared to the province's 86.6 and 24.6 percent.  Last year 88.0 percent of PWSB Grade 6 students achieved the acceptable standard.  Social Studies was up from last year's 81.4 percent with 86 percent achieving the acceptable standard and 18.6 percent achieving excellence.  This compares with provincial figures of 85.7 and 21.4 percent.

In English Language Arts PWSB Grade 9 students achieved 88.1 percent acceptable standard and 10.2 percent excellence compared to 89.8 and 16.7 percent for the province.  Last year 88.4 percent achieved the acceptable standard.  Math results at the Grade 9 level continue to be low in the school district and in the province.  (PWSB Grade 9 students scored 74.7 percent compared to last year's 74.8 percent for the acceptable standard and 17.6 percent for excellence compared to last year's 17.9 percent.)  In Science the school district Grade 9 students scored 79.2 percent acceptable standard and 7.5 percent excellence compared to 80.5 and 12.7 provincially.  Last year 80.2 percent achieved the acceptable standard. In Social Studies 80.5 percent of PWSB Grade 9 students achieved the acceptable standard with 15.5 percent at excellence levels compared to provincial figures of 82.8 and 20.2 percent.  Last year 81.3 percent achieved the acceptable standard. 

A higher percentage of Peace Wapiti students write the exams than throughout the province. Click here to see a chart showing the specific results.

Provincial Diploma Exams

PWSB diploma exam results have improved significantly in the sciences, but continue to be low in mathematics.  English results are close to the provincial average, whereas social studies results have dropped slightly. It is expected that 85% of students will pass and 15% will achieve excellence.

Biology 30 results have increased a lot from last year. (In 2002 80.1% of students achieved an acceptable standard and 27.6% achieved excellence while in 2001 64.2% of students achieved an acceptable standard and 12.6% excellence in 2001.) Chemistry 30 results increased as well. (In 2002 86.2% of students achieved an acceptable standard and 20.8% excellence while in 2001 72.9% achieved the acceptable standard and 16.1% excellence.) In Physics 30 in 2002 84.5% achieved the acceptable standard and 31.0% excellence while in 2001 70.7% achieved the acceptable standard and 12.0% excellence.  The science results equal or exceed the provincial results. 

Applied Math 30 results continue to be low (69.9% acceptable standard; 2.7% excellence in 2002 compared to 62.5% acceptable standard; 2.3% excellence in 2001).  Results for Math 33 fell from 2001 when 84.8% of students achieved the acceptable standard and 18.2% achieved excellence. In 2002  60.0% achieved the acceptable standard and 20.0% excellence).  Although Pure Math 30 results rose in 2002, they were still below the provincial average. (In 2002 70.5% received the acceptable standard and 18.6% excellence while in 2001 59.0% reached the acceptable standard and 8.3% excellence.)  Provincial results for Pure Math 30 in 2002 were 81.4% acceptable standard and 28.3% excellence.

In 2002 English 30 results for PWSB students were 83.7% acceptable standard and 19.7% excellence compared to the provincial average of 88.4% and 19.0%.  In 2001 the results were 86.7% and 12.8% for PWSB students.  In 2002 English 33 results for PWSB students were 81.5% acceptable standard and 2.8% excellence compared to the provincial average of 86.5% and 7.2%.  In 2001 the results were 79.5% and 5.4% for PWSB students.

In 2002 Social Studies 30 results for PWSB students were 79.1% acceptable standard and 20.2% excellence compared to the provincial average of 86% and 21%.  In 2001 the results were 85.3% and 16% for PWSB students.  In 2002 Social Studies 33 results for PWSB students were 75.4% acceptable standard and 4.5% excellence compared to the provincial average of 80.6% and 11.5%.  In 2001 the results were 78.8% and 8.9% for PWSB students.

Complete results are available by clicking here.

Parent Satisfaction with Education

A satisfaction survey conducted in May and June 2002 showed parents have high levels of satisfaction (very satisfied and satisfied) with the quality of education and student achievement.  Although not significant, the figures are slightly lower than last year.  80.82% of parents expressed satisfaction with the quality of education their child is receiving (compared to 84.7% in the year 2001 and 79.2% in the year 2000) while 81.32% indicated satisfaction with their child's academic achievement compared to 80.7% last year and 80.3% in 2000. Parents also are satisfied with the learning environment in classrooms (78.4% compared to 83.0%  last year and 80.4% in 2000) and the curriculum being taught (81.9%  compared to  85.0% last year and 85.9% in 2000). Click here to see the survey results for parents.
 

How satisfied are parents with:	Very  Satisfied	Satisfied	Dissatisfied	Very Dissatisfied
Quality of education that their child is receiving	15.7%	65.1%	14.8%	4.3%
Their child is being challenged to do their best	16.9%	58.1%	18.9%	6.1%
Their child's academic achievement	24.1%	57.2%	13.8%	4.9%
The learning environment in the classroom	15.6%	62.8%	18.1%	3.4%
The curriculum their child is being taught	11.5%	70.4%	14.4%	3.7%
The emphasis basic reading, writing and mathematical skills	15.4%	66.6%	11.9%	6.1%
The quality of learning resources available	9.2%	63.1%	24.0%	3.7%

Student Satisfaction with Education

Students indicated that they are satisfied with the quality of education they are receiving.  Of students in Grade 12,  85.7% indicated they are either very satisfied or satisfied with the quality of education they are receiving (compared to 85.5% last year and 87.5% in 2000).  Up from last year, 82.1% indicated they are satisfied with how much they are learning. Last year 78.4% indicated they are satisfied with how much they are learning. The figure was 87.6% in 2000.  The following chart shows results from the 2002 survey of Grade 12 students.  Click here to see the results for all students.
 

How satisfied are students with:	Very satisfied	Satisfied	Dissatisfied	Very Dissatisfied
The quality of education that they are receiving	19.5%	66.2%	11.7%	2.6%
How much they are learning	20.1%	63.0%	15.6%	1.3%
The variety of learning activities in the classroom	11.1%	61.4%	26.1%	1.3%
The emphasis on basic reading, writing and mathematical skills	16.3%	68.6%	13.7%	1.3%
Do students agree that:	Strongly Agree	Agree	Disagree	Strongly Disagree
Students have learned a lot from the courses which they have taken in school	27.4%	57.5%	13.1%	2.0%
Students are clear on what they are expected to learn	31.2%	63.6%	3.9%	1.3%
Students are being challenged to do their best	25.3%	55.8%	16.9%	2.0%
Students have the opportunity to make choices about the courses they can take	41.3%	43.9%	9.7%	5.1%
Teachers provide the help and support they need to learn	24.0%	59.1%	14.9%	2.0%
Teachers encourage them to do well and get good grades	27.5%	61.4%	7.8%	3.3%
Teachers use a variety of approaches to meet individual learning needs	16.2%	55.2%	22.1%	6.5%

Student Improvement 

Students think they have improved some or a lot in a number of subjects and other learning areas. These include basic reading and writing skills (87.5% compared to 85.3% last year and 85.7% in 2000), problem solving (89.5% compared to 81.8 % last year and 85.8% in 2000) and mathematical skills (86.1% compared to 78.5% last year and 84.4% in 2000). These results are from the survey of Grade 12 students. Click here to see the complete survey results. 
 

How much has school helped students improve in the following areas:	A lot	Some	Very Little
Basic reading and writing skills	36.8%	50.7%	12.5%
Speaking	20.1%	60.4%	19.5%
Listening	30.5%	53.6%	15.9%
Creative thinking	35.1%	51.7%	13.2%
Ability to learn on my own	31.4%	55.6%	13.0%
Problem solving	31.4%	58.2%	10.4%
Mathematical skills	37.8%	48.3%	13.9%
Leadership	21.9%	53.4%	24.7%
Self-confidence	27.8%	52.1%	20.1%
Decision-making	35.1%	54.1%	10.8%
Getting along with others	44.4%	45.0%	10.6%
Applying knowledge to real life situations	29.0%	48.3%	22.7%
Computer skills	26.7%	47.3%	26.0%
Managing time	17.8%	56.6%	25.6%

Scholarships

Peace Wapiti School Board students have demonstrated academic excellence in a number of ways, including the area of scholarship awards. More details about scholarships can be found by clicking on the Scholarships link.

Early Literacy Initiative (K-2)

Early Literacy programs were provided in our Peace Wapiti schools with K-2 programs.  The majority of the programs involved utilization of teacher assistants to provide intensive individual or small group instruction under the teacher’s direction.  Classroom teachers and teacher assistants work collaboratively with parents, speech pathologists and special education teachers to ensure:

• Early identification of students
• Parents are included as literacy partners for their children
• Programs are delivered to meet the student needs
• Student progress is assessed and communicated clearly

For the most part ESL in Peace Wapiti has consisted of special programming for students in the Hutterite colony schools.  Many of the children on the Hutterite colonies have had little, if any, exposure to the English language prior to entering school.

The program in each of our 4 Hutterite Schools is relatively simple, emphasizing the use of thematic units that the students can relate to.  The focus is on concrete, real life situations (foods, crafts, farming).

The goals of the program are:

• Improved written and comprehension skills
• Improved Provincial Achievement test results
• More informal use of English