Before the Assessment

Thank you for participating in the Pan-Canadian Assessment Program (PCAP).

CMEC is hosting live weekly Q&A sessions for school contacts and test administrators. Session attendance is entirely optional. The purpose of these sessions is to highlight important information about PCAP and to directly answer any questions regarding the administration of the assessment at your school.

Participants are invited to join on an as-needed, drop-in basis. Registration is not required.

 Time Date Zoom Details
12:00–12:30 p.m.*

*NOTE: Session times are based on Eastern Daylight Time. Please confirm the equivalent session time in your own time zone.
 Every Wednesday,
April 12–May 17, 2023
 https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85352365673

Meeting ID: 853 5236 5673

In 2003, the provincial and territorial ministers of education, through the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC), agreed to develop the Pan-Canadian Assessment Program. This program assesses, at regular intervals, the knowledge and skills of Grade 8/Secondary II students across Canada in the core subjects of science, reading, and mathematics. In each PCAP assessment, one of the three subjects is the primary domain, while the other two are minor domains. PCAP provides an excellent opportunity to show the education community, as well as the general public, the efficacy of our education systems with regard to learning in these subject areas.

Watch this video to learn about the steps required for schools to administer PCAP 2023.

For a complete overview of the project, please consult the Project Outline.

A sample of schools has been randomly selected to participate in PCAP taking place from April 17 to May 26, 2023. In each selected school, at least one Grade 8/Secondary II class will be selected to participate in the assessment. The relevant provincial ministry or department of education will contact selected schools with the list of selected classes, as well as other important information. The Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC) will provide schools with the required assessment materials and information to prepare for the administration of the assessment.

Every student in the selected class(es) will participate in a testing and a questionnaire session. Additionally, the science teacher(s) of the selected class(es) will be asked to complete a Teacher Questionnaire, and the school principal will be asked to complete a School Questionnaire.

Please note that the assessment is not in any way an effort to evaluate the performance of individual students, teachers, or school principals. No data will be published that will enable individual students, teachers, schools, or school boards/districts to be identified. CMEC publishes PCAP results at only a pan-Canadian and provincial level, including, where possible, results for both official language groups. The data that the schools are being asked to collect will enable us to monitor education systems and provide policy-relevant information without revealing the identity of the respondents.

Click here for more information regarding the PCAP assessment content, framework, and results from past cycles.