The SAIP 2002: Report on Writing III Assessment involved approximately 24,000 students in all provinces and territories except Nunavut. Among these students
- 12,700 were 13 years old
- 11,000 were 16 years old
- 18,000 wrote the assessment in English
- 5,700 wrote the assessment in French
The CMEC Student Achievement Indicators Program (SAIP) is an assessment tool that was designed to determine student achievement in relation to Canada-wide standards. SAIP was conducted on a cyclical basis in science, mathematics, and reading and writing, with the results provided on a pan-Canadian and a jurisdictional basis.
Performance is reported on a five-point scale, with one being the lowest and five the highest. Most 13-year-olds are expected to achieve at least level 2, while most 16 year-olds should achieve level 3 or better.
SAIP 2002 focused on writing; the previous assessments in 1994 and 1998 included both reading and writing.
The reports of the SAIP results are released by CMEC. Some of the major findings of the SAIP 2002 Writing Assessment are:
- More than 80 per cent of 13-year-olds reached level 2 and above.
- Over 40 per cent of 13-year-olds reached level 3 and above.
- Over 60 per cent of 16-year-olds reached level 3 or above.
- More girls in both age groups performed at higher levels than boys.
- Francophone students in Quebec performed at higher levels than francophone students in minority language settings in other provinces in the writing assessment.