The province is creating a new Provincial Assessment Program.
The Saskatchewan Rivers School Division Board of Education was updated about the new program during their regular meeting on Monday.
Director of Education Neil Finch explained that this year the Ministry of Education is developing a program for assessment in the province and it is in the very early stages.
“The field testing will happen as the year goes on, so more like into the spring,” Finch said.
Finch said the province has constructed a field test assessment for Grade 5 and 9 Math and Grade 7 English Language Arts (ELA).
Students’ performance on these assessments will be used in 2027-2028 to inform students, parents, and teachers about the next steps.
“Students will do the assessment, but there will be no records given back to schools of how students have done,” Finch explained. “It’s more about testing the assessment itself. That’s why it’s called the field test. It’s really about a test of the assessment.”
New assessments are being developed for Grades 5 and 9 mathematics and Grades 4, 7, and 10 English Language Arts (ELA). Grade 1 to 3 reading is still in development with more information coming in the future. Assessments will be developed using teachers from around the province to develop them.
The development of the new Provincial Assessment Program is attached to the end of Departmental Exams, which was announced last spring by the province.
There are actions attached to improve early literacy in kindergarten to Grade 3. The literacy screener for these ages is still under review but Saskatchewan Rivers will still collect data.
In 2026-2027 it will be the actual Grade 5 and Grade 9 math assessment and field testing for Grade 4 ELA. In 2027-2028 the four previously developed assessments in Math and ELA will be used with the Grade 10 ELA field test happening at the same time. In 2029-2029 all five assessments will be used in the province.
