Manitoba Grade 8 scores up but remain below national average

MANITOBA science scores are still lagging behind national averages, but local boys and girls have logged improvements over the last decade.

The latest results of the Pan-Canadian Assessment Program, a national initiative that tests real-world understanding of science, math and literacy at the end of Grade 8, was released this week.

The 2023 test focused on science, and students were assessed based on their ability to undertake scientific inquiry, problem solve and engage in scientific reasoning.

“It’s about application — how you’re interpreting data, how you’re explaining information and how you’re utilizing whatever you’re learning in the classroom,” said Anju Bajaj, a Grade 7 and 8 science teacher at Holy Cross School in Winnipeg.

Roughly 31,500 youth from more than 1,400 schools in Canada took part in the online assessment at the end of the 2022-23 school year.

The Council of Ministers of Education develops and administers the tests, which yielded an average score of 501 in science.

In Manitoba, the average was 476 — up from 465 in 2013. The average boys’ score was up 11 points, while the average girls score was up 10 points during that period.

While Bajaj said things appear to be moving in the right direction, she was hesitant to celebrate the results.

The results showed students are struggling with problem solving compared to inquiry and reasoning. The trend signals challenges in students’ ability to apply scientific knowledge in unfamiliar and real-world contexts, Bajaj said.

Bajaj said she’d like to see the province mandate participation in science fairs and renew an emphasis on experimentation to cultivate curiosity, resilience and critical thinking.

Manitoba students performed the best in the nature of sciences area, followed by life sciences, earth sciences and physical sciences.

The Pan-Canadian Assessment Program is scheduled every three years with a rotating subject. The 2023 test was delayed one year, owing to COVID-19 disruptions.

The participants were sorted into four levels depending on their scores, with Level 2 the equivalent of grade-level expectations.

On a national scale, 89 per cent of test-takers were meeting baseline benchmarks, meaning they understand the steps involved in a valid experiment and basic data collection.

The percentage of Manitoba participants at Level 2 or above was 83 per cent.

Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, B.C., Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia all outperformed Manitoba, with at or above grade-level averages ranging from 91 per cent to 85 per cent.

Eight per cent of Manitoba students attained the highest level, compared to 12 per cent of Canadian students.

There were also more students below grade-level in Manitoba — 17 per cent were sorted into Level 1 — versus Canada at large. Overall, 11 per cent of students were not meeting expectations for Grade 8 in 2023.

Anna Stokke, a professor of mathematics at the University of Winnipeg, suggested more attention needs to be placed on helping struggling students get up to speed.

“Once you start decreasing the share of struggling learners, it should really lift everybody up because then teachers can focus on higher levels of knowledge of whatever they’re teaching,” Stokke said.

The education department is reviewing the results.

As far as Education Minister Tracy Schmidt is concerned, the test’s findings highlight students’ ongoing hard work and resilience.

“Reflecting on those results, I’m glad to see that Manitoba students are starting to rebound after the effects of the pandemic,” Schmidt said.

Manitoba is in the process of overhauling its kindergarten-to-Grade 10 science curriculum.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

PCAP 2023 report