Term: Grade 12 Provincial Exam Performance

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Glossary Definition

Last Updated: 2015-04-21

Definition:

Students in Grade 12 in Manitoba have been required to write provincial examinations in Language Arts (LA) and Mathematics since 1993. The current tests account for 30% of the students' final course mark, are curriculum-based, and mandatory for all students, with adaptations available for many special needs students and exemptions for individual students as required.

In Martens et al. (2010), rather than looking at the results of these exams only for students currently in Grade 12, the analysis includes all children who were born in Manitoba and remained in Manitoba from both 1988 until they were 18 years of age in 2006 (the year they should have written the tests if they had progressed through the school system as expected). In this way, the analysis is able to measure not only the percent of children that passed or failed these tests, but also the percent who were absent from school, did not complete the test, were in Grade 11 or lower (i.e., retained at least one year), or who had withdrawn from school altogether. Exam scores for Grade 12 LA and Math in the 2005 academic year (2005/06 school year) were identified for those individuals born in Manitoba. Children that already had the credit, were exempt from the test, dropped the course, or otherwise did not write the test were grouped into an "Other" group. Note: As enrollment data is often incomplete for schools operated by the First Nations Communities in which they are located, students in First Nations schools were excluded from the analysis.

In Brownell et al. (2012), the performance of students on the Language Arts (LA) and Mathematics tests were calculated for each academic year from 2000 to 2009 (school years 2000/01 to 2009/10). Student performance was defined as the percent of youths who were born in Manitoba and living in the province in the year they turned 18 years of age (i.e., the year they should have written the tests if they had progressed through the school system as expected). These youths were grouped into seven categories for analysis:

1. passed the tests (at least 50% exam mark)
   
2. failed the tests
   
3. were absent from school
   
4. did not complete the test
   
5. were in Grade 11 or lower (i.e., retained at least one year)
   
6. who had withdrawn from school
   
7. other

The latter category includes students with a previous record of the Grade 12 LA or Math credit and students that were exempt from the test, dropped the course, or otherwise did not write the test.

Related concepts 

• Grade 12 Language Arts (LA) Test Performance Outcomes by Socioeconomic Status (SES)
• Standards Tests / Achievement Tests - Test Performance and Outcomes

Related terms 

• Academic Year / School Year
• First Nations Schools
• Grade 12 Standards Tests / Achievement Tests
• On-Time Pass for Grade 12 Language Arts (LA) Exam
• On-Time Pass for Grade 12 Mathematics Exam
• Standards Tests / Achievement Tests

References 

• Brownell M, Chartier M, Santos R, Ekuma O, Au W, Sarkar J, MacWilliam L, Burland E, Koseva I, Guenette W. How are Manitoba's Children Doing? Winnipeg, MB: Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, 2012. [Report] [Summary] [Updates and Errata] [Additional Materials] (View)
• Martens PJ, Bartlett J, Burland E, Prior H, Burchill C, Huq S, Romphf L, Sanguins J, Carter S, Bailly A. Profile of Metis Health Status and Healthcare Utilization in Manitoba: A Population-Based Study. Winnipeg, MB: Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, 2010. [Report] [Summary] [Updates and Errata] [Additional Materials] (View)