The PISA 2012 results were released this morning.  A few highlights:

• Canada has slipped out of the top 10.  According to the CMEC (Canadian Ministers of Education Council) report, “the performance of Canadian 15-year-olds has declined by 14 points in the past nine years, a decline that is statistically significant”
• Most significant is the downward trend in provincial scores (except in Quebec and Saskatchewan) since 2003.
• CMEC  “acknowledges a clear trend showing a decrease in most provinces as well as an increase in the number of countries outperforming Canada”.
• The most significant declines, in comparison to the 2003 scores, were in Manitoba and Alberta.
• In Manitoba, the percentage of students performing below level 2 has doubled over the past ten years.  [Note:  Level 2 is considered by the OECD to be the baseline of mathematical proficiency to participate fully in society.]
• In Alberta, the percentage of students performing below level 2 has increased from 7.4% to 15.1% over the past 10 years.  In fact, we see significant increases in the percentages of students in this low category in most provinces.
• What about our top-performing students?  In Manitoba, the percentage of students performing at levels 5 0r 6 has decreased from 18.9% to 10.3% over the past ten years.  In Alberta, the percentage in this category has decreased from 26.8% to 16.9% over the past 10 years.  Again, we see significant declines in the percentage of students in this high category over the past ten years in most provinces.

Change is clearly needed!  

The full CMEC report can be found here:

Measuring up: Canadian Results of the OECD PISA Study.