Student Assessment Tools
Student Assessment Tools
Below you will find information about assessment tools in the NWT.
- Student Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting (SAER)
- It is important for student progress to be consistently evaluated and reported in relation to NWT curricular outcomes. Information derived from the fair assessment and evaluation of students achievement provides valuable information on student academic progress and identifies areas of strength and challenges at the student, school, district education authority, divisional education authority, and territory-wide level.
- Systemic Assessments in the NWT
- The Department of Education, Culture and Employment has a responsibility for establishing the standards for educational achievement at the territorial and local levels, and tracking systemic academic progress. To meet this need, ECE relies on Alberta Diploma Examinations and Alberta Achievement Tests as NWT systemic assessments.
- Alberta Diploma Examinations
- Alberta Diploma Examinations are Alberta-developed examinations in selected Grade 12 courses. The purpose of the exams is to certify the level of individual student achievement in selected Grade 12 courses; to ensure that standards of achievement are maintained, and to report individual and group results. Diploma exams make up 30% of a student’s grade in selected Grade 12 courses.*
- Grade 12 courses that require diploma examinations include: English Language Art 30-1, English Language Arts 30-2, Francais 30-1, French Language Arts 30-1, Social Studies 30-1, Social Studies 30-2, Applied Mathematics 30, Biology 30, Chemistry 30, Physics 30, and Science 30.
- For more information on Diploma Examinations: https://www.alberta.ca/diploma-exams.aspx
- Alberta Diploma Examinations are Alberta-developed examinations in selected Grade 12 courses. The purpose of the exams is to certify the level of individual student achievement in selected Grade 12 courses; to ensure that standards of achievement are maintained, and to report individual and group results. Diploma exams make up 30% of a student’s grade in selected Grade 12 courses.*
*NOTE: For the 2022-23 school year, the diploma exams will be weighted as 20%, rather than 30% of a student’s grade. This follows Alberta Education’s decision to adjust the weight due to disruptions in education caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
If students rewrite a diploma exam that they originally wrote in the 2021-2022 school year, their exam score will be worth 20% of their final mark this year.
The weighting of diploma exams is expected to return to 30% effective September 1, 2023.
- Alberta Achievement Tests
- Alberta Achievement Tests are assessments for students in grades 6 and 9 in the subject areas of Language Arts, Mathematics, Français, and Mathematiques. These assessments are developed by the province of Alberta where the assessments are called Provincial Achievements Tests (PATs). The purpose of the testing program is to determine if students are learning what they are expected to learn; report to the public how well students have achieved curriculum standards at a given point in their schooling; and assist schools, authorities, and the territory in monitoring and improving student learning.