The province is creating a new Provincial Assessment Program.
The Prince Albert Catholic School Division Board of Education was updated about the program during their regular meeting on Nov. 3.
Director of Education Lorel Trumier explained that this year the Ministry of Education is developing a program for assessment in the province.
“And this year is really a year of development. So our information is going out to our parents and caregivers about what the student assessment is.
This year the development will be focusing on Grades 5 and 9 mathematics and Grades 4, 7, and 10 English Language Arts (ELA).
“So children who participate in assessments, it will not impact their final grades. It will not impact their achievement levels; it’s really for the development of a guide,” Trumier said.
The development of the new Provincial Assessment Program is attached to the end of Departmental Exams, which was announced last spring by the province.
“Now, my understanding is Saskatchewan is one of the few provinces that does not have a provincial student assessment program, and so we were moving along to really look at how that’s going to work.”
There are actions attached to improve early literacy in kindergarten to grade 3.
“There’s going to be very specific scope and sequence development and a screener to help assess where students begin on items like phonemic awareness, phonics, spelling, reading, fluency, comprehension, that kind of thing,” she said.
She explained that the province is still developing those, and information will be going out to families.
“Our teachers are going to have the opportunity to field test some of the questions and the assessments. The assessments will be electronic assessments. And there is supposed to be some AI development in the assessment to help refine what we know about students and what they know,” Trumier explained.
Students’ performance on these assessments will be used in 2027-2028 to inform students, parents, and teachers about the next steps.
Catholic Division receives grant to assist co-curricular activities for students with special needs
The Prince Albert Catholic School Division has received a grant to enhance learning opportunities for students with special needs in the division.
In an update to the board of education by Superintendent Charity Dmytruk, she informed the board that the division has received a grant of $45,188 to support co-curricular programming for students with special needs from the Northern Lights Community Development Corporation.
“We have such dedicated staff who want to enhance what students are exposed to and how they learn and make it so much more practical and hands-on,” Trumier said.
The target group is students in kindergarten to grade 12 with a wide range of challenges, including behavioural, medical, cognitive, and physical.
The goal is to provide these students with access to community-based experiences that foster inclusion, skill development, and personal growth.
“Our coordinator and superintendent (Dmytruk) made an application to the Northern Lights Community Development Corporation to have a grant to promote the development of functional life skills,” Trumier explained.
Examples of functional life skills include grocery shopping and ordering food, among other things.
“As well as engagement in bowling and recreation and some therapeutic activities with movement and participation in those kinds of things, like swimming,” Trumier said.
Trumier said that the grant will be a benefit to all students with special needs in the division.
“It’s such good news; we’re looking forward to the project,” she said.
The grant funds will be used to cover the costs associated with the program.
Trumier added that during the regular administration meeting on Nov. 4, they had already begun to get organized on the first set of activities.
