Education

NB3 to improve results in literacy, mathematics and science (anglophone sector) (08/04/30)

NB 589

April 30, 2008

WOODSTOCK (CNB) - The launch of NB3, which will provide an increased emphasis on improving students' understanding and performance in literacy, mathematics and science, was announced today by Education Minister Kelly Lamrock.

(Multimedia)

"We are very proud of our commitment to build the best education system in Canada," Lamrock said. "In order to do that, we have to ensure that our kids have a solid foundation in literacy, mathematics and science."

NB3 will focus on improving student achievement scores in those areas throughout all levels of the anglophone public school system. Currently, New Brunswick trails other provinces in these key subjects.

"In order to compete in the knowledge economy of the 21st century we will need a highly skilled workforce," Lamrock said. "In order to meet our goal of being a self-sufficient province, high-level skills in literacy, mathematics and science are essential to our future - both for our kids individually and for our province. NB3 puts us on track to having the best education system in Canada, and to becoming self-sufficient by 2026."

Through NB3 the anglophone sector will re-focus its programs and services throughout the system to meet government's objective of higher literacy, mathematics and science results. This effort will include focusing a large portion of the funding the department provides to school districts for school leadership and teacher-training programs in NB3 objectives.

Another component of NB3 will be an overhaul of the curricula in these three subjects to ensure a focus on essential learning and key result areas.

"The current curricula overall have far too many outcomes," Lamrock said. "The focus for teachers should be ensuring that kids have a deep understanding of the essential concepts, rather than on covering as many outcomes as possible."

The process of overhauling the curricula will begin this coming school year with the launch of a revised mathematics curriculum that aims to reduce the outcomes by about 50 per cent to allow greater focus on key concepts at each grade level. The revised curricula will be phased in over the next three years, and are designed to ensure that kids learn the key foundational outcomes of mathematics as they progress through each stage of school.

Other key elements of NB3 are:

• a new early-years evaluation program for all preschool-aged children after they have registered for kindergarten, which will assist parents, educators and community agencies on meeting the specific learning needs of each child;
• new reading and writing achievement standards from kindergarten through Grade 9;
• cross-curricular activities targeted at improving literacy, mathematics and science;
• provincial assessments at grades 2, 4, 7 and 9 in literacy, and grades 3, 5 and 8 in mathematics, to provide feedback to educators on how well the kids are meeting literacy and mathematics targets;
• schools establishing literacy, mathematics and science targets in their School Improvement Plans, and school districts monitoring and reporting each year on progress towards established provincial standards;
• principal and teacher professional development days focusing on enhancing skills in the areas targeted by NB3;
• literacy and mathematics leads and school intervention teams being trained to provide better supports to kids struggling with reading, writing and mathematics;
• continuing the Writers in Schools program, and introducing a new Arts Smarts program that uses the arts to support literacy development;
• focusing the Community Schools Program on engaging local communities in helping their local schools improve literacy, mathematics and science scores; and
• focusing the Innovative Learning Fund on investing in teachers who offer new and innovative approaches to improving literacy, mathematics and science scores.

"New Brunswick's education system needs to respond with a sense of urgency to a child struggling with learning how to read, do math, or understand the principles of science," Lamrock said. "New Brunswick has repeatedly scored near the bottom on national student assessments in the subject areas of literacy, mathematics and science. We are determined to improve this situation by working relentlessly with District Education Councils, educators, parents and community groups to ensure that all students benefit from excellent instruction, the key variable affecting student achievement."

Lamrock launched NB3 during a visit to Woodstock Centennial Elementary School, where he saw Literacy Lift Off, a literacy program demonstrated by the Woodstock Rotary Club and District 14. The objective of the program is to enlist community volunteers who will go into Woodstock-area schools to work with students to improve literacy and mathematics.

In July 2007, the Government of New Brunswick announced its education plan, When Kids Come First. This plan sets out a number of goals to ensure that New Brunswick's kids are the focus of the education system, and that New Brunswick can succeed and reach self-sufficiency by building the best education system in the country.

08/04/30

MEDIA CONTACT: Jason Humphrey or Angélique Binet, Communication, Education, 506-444-4714.

08/04/30