PRINCE ALBERT — The number of assessments Prince Albert students receive will be increasing, according to an update provided to the Saskatchewan Rivers School Division Board of Education.
The update was delivered by Education Director Neil Finch.
“We will need some time for sure to see exactly how it's going to look in the end,” Finch said. “(What) we know is that from Grade 4 up to 10, almost every grade will have some sort of Provincial assessment.”
According to the report, assessments will include Grade 5 and 9 math, Grade 4, 7 and 10 English Language Arts (ELA) (reading and writing). At the current time, Grade 1 to 3 reading is being developed and more updates will come in the future.
The timeline shows that teachers will develop the assessments in 2024-25. In the 2025-26 school year, there will be field tests for Grade 5 and 9 math and Grade 7 ELA. In the 2026-27 school year, there will be assessments for Grade 5 and 9 math and Grade 7 ELA, plus field testing for Grade 4 and 10 ELA.
All assessments should be up and running by the 2027-28 school year.
The province currently assesses only Grade 3 reading and graduation rates.
"That’s what the province is looking at: how do we get more information about how our students are doing that doesn't take nine years to hear about it,” Finch said.
According to the province, the goals of assessment are to provide a fair and objective measure of how students are doing, help guide instruction and assist schools, divisions and government in improving student achievement.
The ministry will be collaborating with PEP partners to further develop the assessment approach for Saskatchewan. This includes exploring a common approach to reading.
Learning and assessment is one of four priorities in the Provincial Education Plan (PEP) along with Indigenous education, mental health and wellbeing and student transitions.
Sask Rivers receives clean audit for fiscal year
Chief Financial Officer Jerrold Pidborochynski presented the division’s audited financial statements for the previous fiscal year which ended August 31, 2024.
The auditors reported that there was strong evidence of effective and appropriate financial management and accounting, and MNP issued a “clean audit” for the division.
Each year, the Board contracts an external auditor to review the financial management and records of the division.
Representatives from the auditing firm of MNP were in attendance.
"I think that that speaks to our control that we have within the school system and our communication around those controls,” Finch said. “When you come out with a clean audit for the entire school division with a $100 million budget, that's a success in itself.
