Alberta Grade 6 math scores tumble 3 years into new curriculum

Nearly half of Alberta’s Grade 6 students failed the provincewide math test in 2024, three years after the province started rolling out its new elementary school curriculum.  

Only 53 per cent of students achieved an “acceptable” score on the Provincial Achievement Test, or PAT, down from 72 per cent who achieved acceptable in 2019, before the pandemic and new curriculum.

The results came out as each school district reported local results to their board of trustees. Alberta students write standardized tests in Grades 6, 9 and 12; and this was the first year students wrote the PAT for math under the new curriculum.

Teachers have previously criticized the new curriculum as teaching core concepts too early. In their report to trustees, Calgary Board of Education officials described the new curriculum as emphasizing problem-solving and deeper understanding of math concepts, which they call a “positive long-term shift.”

Chief superintendent Joanne Pitman said the problem is that key concepts were moved to earlier grades. Because of the timing, students in Grade 4 through Grade 8 will have missed the concepts during implementation. 

It’s going to take work to get them back on track. CBE will be bringing in extra support and strategies for teachers to do that. 

“We need to back it all the way up to sometimes Grade 2 and Grade 3 outcomes. It's understanding which parts of the particular curriculum they're missing and re-teaching that,” Pitman said after the trustee meeting this month.

“Anytime we implement a new curriculum it takes multiple years before you level-set around that.”

As kids struggle, Calgary public has also seen students lose interest in math. The number of Grade 4 to 6 students who say they like math dropped to 67 per cent last year, down from 72 per cent five years ago.

At Calgary Catholic, Kathleen Kostiuk, superintendent for student learning, said her team was shocked to see the scores from the Grade 6 provincial tests. Then, they noticed math scores were down across the province, and like Calgary public students, the Calgary Catholic students were still above the provincial average.

“It wasn’t terribly alarming once we figured out what subject it was,” she said. “Teachers are brand new in the curriculum; students are brand new in the curriculum.”

In a statement, Alberta Education press secretary Garrett Koehler said the government will continue to analyze the results and consider changes both to future tests and the math curriculum.

The new curriculum for junior high is expected by next fall.

Alberta school districts report on student success each fall in their Annual Education Results Report, which gets filed with the provincial Ministry of Education. Individual schools also have access to their own data, which is generally shared with parents through school councils.