RESULTS REVIEW for 2018 – 2019 SCHOOL YEAR

October 21, 2019

Dear parents and guardians,

It is my privilege to share with you our achievement results from last year. Once again, Ottewell
lived up to it’s motto “Where Excellence is the Standard” as our results are outstanding.
Included in this letter are achievement test results from the Provincial Achievement Tests, the
Edmonton Public Schools Highest Level of Achievement Results, the Math
Intervention/Programming Instrument and the results of the Alberta Education’s Accountability
Pillar survey. Here are some highlights for you with detailed information in the last two pages.

On the Provincial Achievement Exams, Ottewell Students exceeded the district and provincial
average on the acceptable standard and the standard of excellence in all 4 exams! Of note is the
increase in the acceptable standard in Language Arts, Science and Social Studies as well as on the
Part B of the Mathematics exam, with more than a 6% increase on the Social Studies PAT exam.
On the Highest Level of Achievement Test (HLAT), Ottewell students again did very well,
increasing the number of students writing at or above grade level by 5.1%, with a two year
increase of just over 8% and this year exceeding the District average by more than 21%. On the
MIPI or Math Intervention/Programming Instrument, an assessment tool we use to gather
information and evidence about students to determine the programming, we improved the number
of students meeting the acceptable standard by another 2.1% after a 2.9% gain the previous year.
I know these excellent results are due to hard work by our students, the outstanding job done by
our staff and by the support of parents and caregivers at home.

Once again, our Accountability Pillar survey results reflect the positive, teaching and learning
focused community at Ottewell School. The Accountability Pillar consists of a common set of
performance measures, aligned with Alberta Education’s goals and outcomes with a focus on;
supporting continuous improvement, improving student outcomes, and providing a clear
understanding of performance and successes. In 8 of 10 indicators Ottewell earned an overall
score of excellent and in all but one indicators Ottewell exceeded the provincial average! Of note
is the 94.3 % positive response to education quality, a measure that looks at the overall quality of
the education your child receives at Ottewell, a 2% increase over last year.

As a staff we will review our results and discuss ways to continue to improve our achievement.
Knowing that different students take the tests each year, we look for broad trends over time and
identify strategies to address areas in need of improvement. We will set goals for the current year
based on our results and our knowledge of the students in our classes. Please keep in mind that
testing gives a snapshot view of student achievement on one particular day. This information is
to assist us in programming along with the assessments that occurs on an on-going basis over the
course of the entire school year. This is the information we share with you through Progress
Reports, Parent/Teacher Conferences and informal discussions throughout the year. Each year,
principals submit a report on the results to the Board of Trustees. This year we will be presenting
our results to our Trustee in November. This report, along with all of our results, are kept in the
school office and are available for parents to see at anytime. Please call the office to arrange an
appointment if you would like to discuss any of these results.

Sincerely,

Mike Morison
Principal
2018-2019 ALBERTA LEARNING ACHIEVEMENT TEST RESULTS:
SCHOOL DISTRICT AND PROVINCE

In June 2019 Alberta Education tested the grade nine students in Math, Language Arts, Social Studies and Science.
Parent copies of individual profile sheets are available on School Zone. The green squares represent areas of growth
over the previous year.
Grade 9 Provincial Achievement Tests
Test Standard Last Ottewell Edmonton Province
Year’s Students Who Public Total Total
Results Wrote Cohort Cohort
Language Arts

Reading Acceptable 92.5% 95.8% 79.6%

Excellence 43.1% 42.5% 19.6%

Writing Acceptable 92% 90.4% 89.6%

Excellence 36.8% 32.9% 21.2%

Total Test Acceptable 92.9% 96.4% 85.1% 84.9%

Excellence 37.4% 35.3% 21.0% 16.7%

Mathematics

Part A Acceptable 74.1 68% 50.2%

Excellence 37.4 33.1% 21.3%

Part B Acceptable 87.4 90.5% 73.4%

Excellence 39.7 42% 23.4%

Total Test Acceptable 88.9% 85.2% 71.1.6% 66.5%

Excellence 33.3% 36.7% 28.2% 20.8%

Social Studies Acceptable 89.7% 95.8% 81.5% 76.9%

Excellence 50.9% 48.2% 32.1% 23.1%

Science Acceptable 95.4% 98.2% 86.2% 84.1%

Excellence 57.5% 56.5% 36.7% 29.7%

2018-2019 HIGHEST LEVEL OF ACHIEVEMENT TESTS

EDMONTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Our school and the District use this particular test to monitor student growth in writing over time. In previous
years, reading was also assessed but the reading component to the HLAT exam is no longer used. The HLAT is
another piece of information for teachers and parents. This information reports the percentage of students
performing at or beyond grade level. The writing test is a locally developed prompt that was the same for all
students.
Percent of Students Demonstrating Grade Level Or Beyond
Test Grades Ottewell Edmonton Public
Achievement
Writing 7-9 Last Year’s Current Results Last Year’s Current Results
Results Results
89.4% 94.46% 74.7% 73.2%
 MIPI - The Math Intervention/Programming Instrument

The MIPI is a tool we use with all students. Students completed a short assessment on math concepts they
learned in the previous school year. So, for example, a student in Grade 8 answered a series of questions
based on what they learned in Grade 7. We use the MIPI results alongside other information and evidence
gathered about students to determine the programming they need to be successful. This assessment will help
teachers learn where each student is in relation to their math knowledge and skills, and in which
areas students need more support. The MIPI will be used in schools across the District, to give us district-
wide information in order to help co-ordinate and improve math programming and support for all students.

Grade 2018/19 Percentage of 2019/20 Percentage of

students meeting the students meeting the
acceptable standard acceptable standard
Grades 7-9
Ottewell School 77.8% 77.2%

Alberta Education Accountability Pillar

The Accountability Pillar provides school authorities with a wide range of data that paints a picture of how they
are performing. The framework focuses on more than student achievement, resulting in a more holistic approach to
accountability. Other aspects that impact student learning - such as safe and caring environments, parent
involvement, and satisfaction with the education experience - are measured, providing a more complete
perspective of the jurisdiction's overall learning environment based on the input of students, parents and teachers.