Manitoba students’ math scores improve, but still ‘worrying’

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This article was published 05/12/2023 (702 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba is no longer ranked last in the country when it comes to mathematics, per the latest edition of the Program for International Student Assessment.

But the new PISA results show overall performance in the subject continues to be on a steady decline in Canada — a phenomena that began long before the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered schools and disrupted in-person learning.

On average, local students scored 528 in numeracy on the standard test in 2003.

That figure dropped to 470 in 2022. The new number is below both the national average and international equivalent, tied with Nova Scotia, and higher than scores out of New Brunswick, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador.

While noting her home province is no longer in last place, mathematician Anna Stokke said the findings do not warrant a celebration party.

“The main thing to pay attention to is the trend. The trend is very worrying. The trend is quite severe,” said the professor of mathematics at the University of Winnipeg.

Every three years, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development administers the PISA to 15-year-olds in 81 member countries across the globe.

The focus of the test rotates between reading, science and math. The latest series of exams prioritized numeracy, although students were also given questions about the other two subject areas.

About 23,000 students in Canada’s 10 provinces completed a two-hour, computer-based test at school between April 18 and June 7 of last year. Each participant was sorted into a category between Level 1 through 6.

A Level 6 score is 669. Level 1 is 233. Singapore’s average — the first place country — was 575. Canada was in the top 10 of all countries with an average of 497.

Stokke said the large number of teenagers who are not attaining a baseline level of math literacy — 29 per cent — required to participate fully in modern society is “heartbreaking.”

“We all acknowledge that COVID had an impact, but nonetheless, we do not want 29 per cent of our students performing below ‘Level 2’,” added the outspoken advocate for foundational and explicit instruction with lots of practice.

Last year, 27 per cent of local students achieved Level 2. One-quarter of respondents were deemed to be Level 3. About 14 per cent were put into Level 4. Only six per cent — half of the Canadian average — were deemed high achievers.

Education Minister Nello Altomare said he was impressed by the local results, given all the challenges teachers have had to navigate in recent years.

“To work through the pandemic and to work through spotty attendance and to get kids performing at a decent level, I think it’s really quite remarkable,” Altomare said.

Individual teachers and the education department will draw on the data to inform and improve teaching in Manitoba, he said, adding the NDP government has promised to bolster numeracy and literacy education.

Teacher Sarah Melo said many of her colleagues are grappling with how to address diverse student needs, teaching large classes and squeezing all mandatory elementary subjects into the school years during which key foundational math skills are taught.

Math anxiety is also common and prioritizing professional development on teaching arithmetic is required to address it, said Melo, who works part-time as a private math consultant and runs workshops for both parents and educators.

“Many math-anxious teachers are shying away from math PD,” said the founder of Melo Math 4 Kids. “Unless there is basically math PD implemented by the school divisions, then it’s not going to get better.”

There is a specific gap in training on delivering numeracy lessons in a differentiated way to meet students’ varying levels of understanding because math resources are grade-specific unlike literacy ones, she said, adding educators often don’t know how to intervene if a child is struggling with the basics.

The math educator added she encourages adults to frequently expose young children to physical money, analog clocks, temperature readings and other forms of math in the wild — for instance, price tags at a store — to “bring a real world context to math.”

The Manitoba Teachers’ Society downplayed the value of the PISA results, which its president indicated are frowned upon by teacher organizations and unions across the world, on Tuesday.

“The classroom teacher is in the best position to know what each of their students need,” union leader Nathan Martindale said, noting the OECD is an economic think-tank rather than an educational research hub.

Martindale said a number of factors, ranging from student poverty to understaffed schools, affect standardized test outcomes.

A universal nutrition program — a campaign promise made by the NDP with the goal of tackling child hunger so students can focus on learning — has potential to improve future scores, as far as Stokke is concerned.

“But also, we need to focus on teaching math well in schools. Bottom line,” the mathematician said, noting scores began dropping significantly after Manitoba adopted the Western and Northern Canadian Protocol curriculum and 2013 updates have been largely ineffective.

Stokke said the curriculum needs to be updated with a renewed focus on foundational math, students need more practice overall, and schools need to ensure they are only welcoming evidence-based PD.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca