Each fall, our students in Grade 1-8 complete the C.A.T.4 (Canadian Achievement Test 4).
Background Information
The benefit of conducting the C.A.T.4 (Canadian Achievement Test 4) testing in the fall is that we are able to use the detailed analysis per student and class to guide individual/group learning plans and strategies for each student/class. The CAT-4 results come essentially in two reports: “criterion-referenced” (specific expectations matched to Canadian curriculum) and “norm-referenced” (comparisons against a representative Canadian sample). This test is useful in its analysis of a child’s strengths and needs, and provides a snapshot of a child’s academic ability at a given time.
The expectations that are suggested in the criterion-referenced portion take into account the Ontario Provincial Curriculum as well as curriculum from across the country. Students are evaluated as Low, Competent or Proficient, and the “end-of-grade expectations” are what would be expected at our test time - the end of the first month of the school year (ie Grade 1.1, 2.1, 3.1 etc). The students are assessed against a norming group that consists of 60 elementary schools in Ontario (35,827 students) as well as across Canada (2,161,465 students)
Braemar Results for 2015
The test for Grades 1 and 2 is not similar enough to allow us to report it with the rest of the school; however we can report that:
Grade 1- 91% of our students are performing at Competent/Proficient levels in Reading.
92% of our students are performing at Competent/Proficient levels in Mathematics.
Grade 2- 88% of our students are performing at Competent/Proficient levels in Reading
75% of our students are performing at Competent/Proficient levels in Mathematics.
Grades 3-8
Reading-92% at Competent/Proficient levels
Vocabulary-94% at Competent/Proficient levels.
Writing Conventions-95.5%at Competent/Proficient levels
Spelling-89% at Competent/Proficient levels
Mathematics- 100% at Competent/Proficient levels
Computation and Estimation- 83% at Competent/Proficient levels
This data illustrates the percentage of the Braemar students who scored between 4 through 9 in the Stanine levels provincially and nationally. We are extremely pleased with these results. The Braemar students are performing 1.5 grades above their peer group.
We often have the question “how does this compare to the Grade 3 and 6 EQAO tests”. We can`t compare the two tests exactly since EQAO measures performance against the Ontario Curriculum specifically, while the CAT4 measures against a compilation of four Canadian Curricula. The CAT4 breaks down results for a student into more categories than just Reading, Writing and Math, but is a multiple choice test that does not measure constructed responses (which EQAO does). However both EQAO and CAT4 measure whether a student has achieved the curriculum expectations they`ve each defined. We can take a little liberty and combine total Reading and Vocabulary results to get a Reading score, Writing and Spelling into a Writing score, and Mathematics and Computation for a Math score. It`s not a perfect match as we can`t confirm how each category is weighed nor use the information gathered through written responses, but still useful.
Notes
Each section of the C.A.T.4 test has a designated time limit assigned to it. Once that section is complete, the teacher will check each student book and document if the student missed any questions or simply ran out of time for that section. That will have an impact on the overall grade performance for each student in each section. This information was shared with parents during their interviews. This documentation allows the teacher to work with the student on test taking skills, time management etc. over the rest of the school year. This is taken into consideration when doing analysis of the overall school performance year to year.
