A recent report from Edmonton Public Schools suggests perceptions of education quality, access to supports, and safe learning environments may have deteriorated last year, though significant cautions accompany the data.
Trustees Debate Significant Declines
Board trustees reviewed the division's annual education results report on Tuesday, December 16, 2025. The report found that improvement in the three key areas had each "declined significantly" compared to previous years. These trends align with patterns seen across Alberta.
Based on provincial measures, the declines ranged between 1.4 and 1.7 points when measured against the previous three-year averages. School boards are mandated to prepare these reports, which detail results on provincial achievement tests, survey-based quality measures, and progress toward division goals.
A Report Laden with Cautions
However, as trustee Julie Kusiek highlighted, interpreting this year's metrics requires extreme caution due to numerous external factors. "There's 10 cautions from Alberta Education about interpreting their tables because of things like COVID, changes to funding, diploma and PAT changes, new curriculum, wildfires," Kusiek told her colleagues.
The official caution notes comprise a page of 10 items at the report's beginning, outlining context that could skew results. Furthermore, additional caveats are scattered throughout the document.
Specific Factors Skewing the Data
Among the noted complicating factors was job action by support workers, which may have impacted results related to student access to supports and services.
Another major caveat involved changes in how English as an Additional Language (EAL) students are identified. This procedural shift significantly reduced the official count of EAL students, which likely distorted related data sets. The report showed stark declines for EAL students, including a 10-point drop in the number achieving an acceptable standard on the Grade 9 Provincial Achievement Test.
Perhaps most dramatically, the three-year high school completion rate for EAL students fell by nearly 15.4 points. While concerning, this figure must be viewed in light of the identification changes that altered the cohort being measured.
The report, chaired by board chairman Saadiq Sumar, serves as a critical tool for accountability. Yet, the extensive list of caveats underscores the challenge of drawing clear conclusions about educational performance during a period of unprecedented disruption and change in Alberta's school system.
