The provincial throne speech delivered on Nov. 25 outlined areas in which the Saskatchewan Party government said it needs to do better, one of which is in education.
As a part of its Provincial Education Plan, the Ministry of Education is introducing a new student assessment program which the government says will be a fair and objective measure of how students are doing in the classroom.
“We want our students to receive the foundational skills and knowledge they need to succeed in a growing province,” Education Minister Everett Hindley said.
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“A provincial assessment program will help us identify how kids are doing in the classroom so we can provide teachers and students with the building blocks needed to have the best learning experience. We look forward to working with the education sector to get back to basics with a renewed focus on K-3 reading.”
Samantha Becotte, Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation President said the commitments made in this week’s throne speech were “promising”, but believes taking time away from classroom instruction is not the best use of a teacher’s time.
“We know standardized testing doesn’t really give us the best picture of what students are doing in classrooms, when we could be using that time to provide additional supports.” Becotte said, adding high-stakes testing environments can be intimidating for students.
She is interested in seeing if any additional funding or resources stem from the results of the assessments.
“We want to look at them as individuals, we want to see what their needs are, what they need for additional supports, and make sure that they’re learning towards the targets in the curriculum.”
Students in Grades 4, 7 and 10 will participate in an English Language Arts assessment, while Grades 5 and 9 will be assessed annually in mathematics. Assessments are expected to begin in the 2025-26 school year.
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