CMEC to Release Major Report on the Performance of Canadian Students in Math, Science, and Reading

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TORONTO, November 16, 2011  — The Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC) will be presenting results from its latest assessment of the performance of Canadian students in math, science, and reading, on November 28, 2011, in Toronto.

The Pan-Canadian Assessment Program (PCAP) provides Canada with a national report card on levels of achievement in core subjects. PCAP 2010 tested close to 32,000 Grade-8 students from over 1,600 schools across the country. Math was the major testing domain in 2010; science and reading were minor domains.

The Toronto event will be hosted by the Honourable Ramona Jennex, Chair of CMEC and Nova Scotia's Minister of Education, along with Andrew Parkin, Director General of CMEC. Student assessment experts will also be in attendance.

Of particular interest to media:

  • PCAP and the School Achievement Indicators Program (SAIP), from which PCAP was developed, have been providing comparable pan-Canadian data on student performance since 1993.

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  • PCAP 2010 data allow for direct comparison among participating provinces and territories, while also offering a pan-Canadian portrait of student achievement.

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  • PCAP 2010 reports on performance by province and territory, by gender, and by first language. Other contextual information will be made available in winter 2012.

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  • PCAP has been developed to work in alignment with key international assessments such as the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) to maximize testing efficiency and enable validation of our results at the international level.

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  • PCAP is a cyclical assessment which allows for comparisons of achievement over time.

 

 



Preliminary Program for Monday, November 28, 2011

5 a.m. EST
PCAP 2010 report made available online
www.cmec.ca/pcap2010

10 a.m. EST
Press conference and question period
InterContinental Toronto Yorkville Hotel
220 Bloor Street West
Toronto, Ontario
Barclay Room

10:30 a.m. EST onward
Individual interviews in English or French
The Honourable Ramona Jennex, Chair of CMEC
Dr. Andrew Parkin, Director General of CMEC

 



Media interview room
An interview room will be available. The room will be equipped with microphones and a media feed box. Interviews will also be possible by telephone.

Media work room
A media work room will also be available from 8 a.m. until 12 noon, and will be equipped with Internet access and power outlets. Hard copies of the report will also be available in English and French. Contact Colin Bailey (see information below) for further information or to arrange an interview with CMEC representatives.



About CMEC

Founded in 1967, CMEC is the collective voice of Canada's ministers of education. It provides leadership in education at the pan-Canadian and international levels. For more information, visit us at www.cmec.ca.

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Information
Colin Bailey
Director, Communications
Cell: 416-929-6970
Tel.: 416-962-8100, ext. 259
E-mail: c.bailey