News & Events

CAT 3 Test Success for Elmwood’s Junior School

For the second year in a row, students in Elmwood’s Junior School have achieved outstanding results on the CAT 3 test. This is a national standardized test that enables Elmwood to compare the academic performance of its students with that of boys and girls in the same grade throughout Canada.

In November, Elmwood’s Grade 3 and Grade 5 classes sat the CAT 3 test in Reading, Language and Mathematics. The girls wrote the test “cold”—they were not coached or prepared because doing so could distort the outcome. The results of the CAT 3 test are impressive. On average, students in Grade 3 performed 14 to 16 months above grade level in Reading, Language and Mathematics. In Grade 5, the girls performed, on average, 18-plus months above grade level in the same subjects.

At Elmwood, the CAT 3 test is just one of a range of assessment tools used by teachers to understand the learning styles of our students. The results are used to shape Elmwood’s academic programme and to differentiate instruction for individual students.

Kate Angell, Vice-Principal of Elmwood’s Junior School, believes that various factors contributed to the girls’ excellent results. “First, the International Baccalaureate Programme actively engages our girls in their learning, teaching them to be critical thinkers and strategic problem solvers. Complementing the IB philosophy, Elmwood has a rigorous academic curriculum, taught by expert faculty who truly understand how girls learn. Put simply, this is an environment that enables students to excel.”