1. السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته Provincial Achievement Test
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته
Welcome to CIS
Provincial Achievement Test
(PAT) Night
January 21, 2014

2. DVD Prepared by Alberta Education General Agenda:
Opening Remarks:
Mr. Browning, Principal
DVD Prepared by Alberta Education
General Agenda:
Wellness Empowerment Program Team
Grade 3 Team
Break-out Sessions:
Parents will meet with the Grade Team
in which their child attends.

3. Principal’s Remarks

4. What Is the Provincial Achievement Test (PAT)
A series of compulsory standardized exams based on the expectations of the Alberta Curriculum written by all Grades 3, 6, and 9 Alberta students at the end of the school year.
Language Arts & Math: Grades 3, 6, and 9
Social Studies & Science: Grades 6 & 9

5. Purposes of the PAT
To ensure that students are meeting the learning expectations of Alberta Curriculum in core subjects
To assist schools, school authorities, and the province in monitoring and improving students’ learning
To inform the public of how well schools have achieved provincial standards at the end of each division
Importance of Gr. 3 Mathematics – moving from computation to word problems, thinking about Maths
Importance of Gr. 3 Language Arts – moving from learning to read to reading to learn, jump in vocabulary, syntax to structure of language – showing more comprehension skills (causal relationships, opinions, critical analysis)

6. When and Who Will Receive the Test Results?
The school (by the first week of October of the following school year)
The parents (by the first report card of the following school year in December)

7. Calgary Islamic School’s Support for the PAT
High Expectations
PAT Committee
Ongoing professional development and school initiatives.
Extra support in the classrooms (Literacy Mentor, TAs, On Call Teachers)
Action plans for students.
Extra resources: RAZ Kids, Key Study Guides, Exam Banks, Alberta Learning website
Practice past papers
High Expectations – parents, students, teachers Importance of collaboration. Parents can support by communicating, assisting with more reading and basic math facts, non-stressful situation.
PD and initiatives for Math and LA.
We don’t teach for the test, but we want to do well – establish a strong year to grow from.

8. Alberta Program of Studies

9. How to Get Students Prepared for the Test?-
Making sure that they are:
Not stressed out!
Relaxed
Well-rested
On top of their school work(homework!)
- Practice, Practice, Practice
Remember theses tests are means
not ends

10. What Is my Role as a Parent?
Support the school by regularly communicating with the teachers
Address my concerns promptly to the teachers
Help my child to stay on the top of his /her schoolwork
Practice with my child using all the available resources

11. What Is my Role as a Parent?
Check our websites daily for updates

12. Transitions: A Wellness Empowerment Program
WEP is funded by Alberta Health Services
Transitions: A Wellness Empowerment Program

13. Stressed Yet???
Tests (especially the PAT’s) can be very stressful for everybody
This includes parents, students and teachers
Parents – every parent wants to see their children do well on tests, especially the BIG ones! This is normal and expected – but we tend to sometimes worry about it more than the children do, which causes you to actually stress out your children! When parents are stressed, your children can often notice this right away. When we have stressed parents, we have stressed students too.
Students – students almost always want to do well on their tests. They want to make their parents and teachers proud of them. However, when they are affected by stress, this sometimes makes it difficult for our students to do well on and focus on their tests (especially when they see their parents and teachers being so concerned about their testing results).
Teachers – are a very important part of learning. They help our students develop the necessary skills for regular classroom tests, as well as the PAT’s. However, teachers also feel their own pressure in being successful to educate our children with the necessary skills in order to do well on the PAT’s. Teachers often feel that if a child doesn’t do well on their PAT’s, this is a direct reflection of their work as a teacher and teaching. This isn’t always the case because it also depends on how well the student has prepared for the test, how confident the students are in understanding the test material and if they have any anxiety at the time of writing their test.

14. What Can You Do to Help? Stay Calm
Help to prioritize your child’s time– don’t cram at the last minute!
ALWAYS send positive messages to encourage your children (“I know you will do well, just make sure you prepare yourself”) 
NEVER communicate negative messages (“you need to try harder or else you are going to do bad” or “you better not fail the test”) 
Stay calm – if we are calm, our children will be more calm and confident
Prioritize your child’s time – homework routine where there is a consistency in setting aside time to review for PAT’s each evening
Positive messages will encourage your children to have the confidence to feel that they can do well.
Negative messages will only make you and your children stressed out more and more as the year goes on. This will weaken their confidence and they are more likely to go into a test feeling unsure of themselves or that they are going to do poorly.

15. We will have a table located just outside the classroom!
We have many resources available for you and your children to use. Please help yourself!
We will have a table located just outside the classroom!

16. Questions???

17. Thank you for coming. We truly appreciate your support