The Epoch Times: 2007 December 6
http://en.epochtimes.com/news/7-12-6/62658.html
A highly-regarded international study that puts Canadian fourth graders among the most literate fourth graders in the world has some provinces beaming with pride. But the results were far from uniform.
In Canada, only Alberta, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec participated in the Progress in International Reading Study (PIRLS). And while the other 39 countries participated as national units, Canada participated by province.
Overall, Western Canada did very well.
In the final tally, Russia took top honours with a score of 565, Hong Kong came second with 564 and Alberta came third with 560. Singapore was fourth with 558 and British Columbia was fifth, also with 558. Luxembourg squeaked past Ontario with 557, and the Big O' scored 555. But that is as good as it got for Canada.
Nova Scotia was 16th with a score of 542, just ahead of the United States' 18th place score of 540. With a score of 533, Quebec came in 23rd.
According to the test's ranking system, there is no statistically significant difference between the top five scores, so Alberta and British Columbia have bragging rights to the most literate fourth graders in the world.
Zoë Cooper, a spokesperson for Alberta Education, said the study confirms that "Alberta students are among the best."
One reason for such literacy excellence could be that Alberta has special funding that gives school districts money for discretionary spending. Districts can use the money for anything from traveling libraries to literacy projects to finding ways to get parents reading with their kids.
"[Districts] direct the resources to where they are needed, to improve the areas that need a little more attention," said Cooper.
She said Alberta is always looking at areas that need to be improved and the province takes the results as confirmation they are on the right track.
"Alberta can say that our students are well prepared to participate in the global workforce," Cooper said.
That sentiment was echoed by B.C.'s education minister, Shirley Bond.
"We're quite pleased that we've done as well as we did," she said. "We want to be the best educated, most literate jurisdiction...on the continent."
To do that B.C. will have to beat Alberta in the next PIRLS to be published in 2013. The province is already working on a game plan that includes early education.
One program, called Strong Start BC, uses extra school space (due to declining enrollment) for drop-in sessions open to children under five. Parents and caregivers can bring their kids and participate in activities including stories, music and art led by qualified early childhood educators.
The program has a side benefit of helping recent immigrants learn English as a second language. Bond is looking forward to seeing the program establish 80 centres over the next year. Ontario was also proud of its seventh place score, said the province's education ministry spokesperson Patricia MacNeil.
Like Alberta, Ontario has extra funding available for school districts that are not doing as well. Ontario also has a program that has placed 3,500 university and college students in 54 of the province's 72 school districts to provide tutoring for students that are falling behind.
A program used in Ontario helps teachers and administrators from different districts share best practices and learn how other schools succeed.
"It really helps the professionals that work with our students every day learn and learn from each other," said MacNeil.
She said the ministry relies on feedback from teachers to determine what is needed in schools. "The efforts that were put in place are showing great results... it shows that we are on the right track."
The Nova Scotia Department of Education issued a statement proclaiming pride in its score. The statement acknowledged Nova Scotia was outscored by Alberta, B.C. and Ontario "but ranked significantly higher than Quebec."
While Quebec scored well above the international average of 500, it was 27 points behind Alberta's 560 score. According to Pierre Foy, director of sampling and data analysis with the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, the group that did the PIRL Study, 40 points is equivalent to year of schooling.
"A difference of 5 points is not all that big, but 10-15 points starts to be important," said Foy.
Quebec and Ontario were the only provinces to participate in the 2001 PIRL Study. Since then, Ontario improved by 6 points and Quebec slipped by 4, but the drop is not considered statistically significant.
Girls scored significantly better than boys in all countries and had an international average of 17 points over boy's results.
The study also found that children score better if there are children's books in the home. There was a 91 point difference between children with more than 100 books at home and children with fewer than 10.
Canada also fared well in another recent international survey. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development tested 400,000 15-year-olds in 57 countries in science, math and reading, with an emphasis on science. Canada came in third with a score of 534. Hong Kong placed second with a score of 542 and Finland soared above both countries with a score of 563. Taiwan came a close fourth with 532.
