Junior High Literacy Assessments
March 2, 2008
T he 2006-2007 school year saw the first administration of the
Junior High Literacy Assessment, the purpose of which is to monitor the progress
of individual students in meeting a representative number of reading and viewing
and writing outcomes of the Atlantic Canada English Language Arts Curriculum.
The assessment was developed by junior high teachers, representing all school
boards in Nova Scotia, under the direction of the Evaluation Services division
of the Department of Education. The assessment was administered during the first hour-and-a-half
on the mornings of May 28, 29, 30, and 31, 2007, and all grade 9 students in
public schools in Nova Scotia participated in the assessment, with the exception
of students with an Individual Program Plan (IPP) in English language arts.
Students read a variety of materials, and answered questions based on those
readings. Materials included information texts, short stories, poetry or song
lyrics, and visual media texts. Students also wrote an essay and a story.
The assessment will be scored July 17-20, 2007 by junior high teachers,
again representing all school boards in Nova Scotia, and individual student
reports will be sent to schools, and then distributed to parents /guardians, in
the fall of 2007. The results of the assessment will not be used to determine
whether a student is promoted or retained, and will not be used to determine
whether a student graduates from high school. It is expected that individual
student results will be used to inform instruction and make decisions about
forms of support/intervention that would be most effective in further supporting
the student's development as a reader and writer in all subject areas.
This news article written by: Department of Education
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