EQAO - National and International Assessments: Pan-Canadian Assessment Program (PCAP)

 

PCAP is an initiative of the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC) that complements the other assessments in each province and territory.

The information gathered in these cyclical tests of student achievement in mathematics, reading, and science provides the provinces and territories with a basis for examining their curriculum and improving their assessment tools. It also tells Canadians about how well their education systems are meeting the needs of students and society.

Each assessment focuses on a major domain with a minor concentration on the two other domains. In 2007, the first assessment, which focused on reading, was administered to 13-year-old students, who were mostly in Grade 8. In May 2010, mathematics was the main emphasis: the assessment was administered to approximately 40 000 Grade 8 students from over 1500 schools across Canada; approximately 6000 of the students were from over 280 schools in Ontario.

Using EQAO’s Student Data Collection (SDC) system and process to collect student-level data for the administration of PCAP, IT board contacts are asked to submit student data to EQAO for all selected schools typically in the latter part of November. In order to facilitate future steps for principals, IT board contacts are asked to submit the information for all Grade 8 students, organized by science class if possible. Organizing student information by homeroom class is also acceptable. School principals will verify the data in the SDC system at the beginning of December.

 

Creating the PCAP Data File in Maplewood

The student data file can be created from the school, but the intent is that it is created from Maplewood Central Office using Reports, EQAO, Export Elementary Data to EQAO. Select the EQAO Export option called Pan-Canadian Assessment Program (PCAP).

If calling from Central Office, then select the participating schools.  EQAO has indicated that you may submit all schools with students designated as 8, or you may submit only those schools that have been selected to participate in the assessment.

Select Create and the file will be automatically created in the EXPORT\EQAO folder with the naming convention EQAO_#####_IC_YYYY where ##### is the five digit ministry-assigned board identification number and YYYY denotes the school year.

Once the file has been completed, select View to open the XML file to confirm the contents before submitting to EQAO.  The contents of the file are described below.

Data Definitions

 

Reference

Number

Field Name

Field Name Definition

(Blue text describes location of the data in the school’s Maplewood system)

Null

Value

Allowed

Values

Value Definition

Variable

Format

1

ProjectCode

Pan-Canadian Assessment Program

Automatically populated in the file

Not allowed

PCAP_xx

where xx denotes the 2 digit year of collection

 

Text(7)

2

SchMident

Ministry-assigned identifier for the school; File, School Setup, School Information; School Info tab.

Not
allowed

 

 

Text (6)

3

FirstName

Student's first name; Student Records, Biographics tab, Name.

Not
allowed

 

 

Text (30)

4

LastName

Student's last name; Student Records, Biographics tab, Name. Note: legal surname is used if it exists.

Not
allowed

 

 

Text (30)

5

DateofBirth

Student's date of birth;  Student Records, Biographics tab, Birth Date

 

Not
allowed

 #

Missing/

Unknown

YYYYMMDD

 

6

StudentOEN

Ministry-assigned Ontario Education Number;

Student Records, Enrolment tab, Edit, OEN Number.

In Maplewood, this means - If school has a funding type of "private" and an OEN has not been assigned to a student, -then a '#' will be sent in the OEN field. In all other cases if OEN does not exist, then student will be excluded from the file.

Not
allowed

#

For use only by

schools not

required by the

ministry to assign OENs

Text (9)

7

Grade

Grade; Student Records, Biographics tab, Edit, This Year’s Grade. Only grade 8 students are included in the file.

Not
allowed

8

Grade 8

Text (1)

8

ClassTeacherFirstName

Student's homeroom class teacher's first name; Student Records, Biographics, Edit, This Year’s Homeroom. The student’s homeroom is based on a list of homerooms defined through File, School Setup, Rooms/Homerooms. Teachers’ names are editable through Staff, Staff Records, Personal menu, Name. If teacher's first name doesn't exist, surname will be used as both the first and last name.

Not
allowed

 

 

Text (30)

9

ClassTeacherLastName

Student's homeroom class teacher's last name; See description in ClassTeacherFirstName.

Not
allowed

 

 

Text (30)

10

ClassCode

Student's homeroom class code ID; Student Records, Biographics, Edit, This Year’s Homeroom. The student’s homeroom is based on a list of homerooms defined through File, School Setup, Rooms/Homerooms. Homeroom designation is sent in the file.

Not
allowed

 

 

Text (9)

11

Gender

Student's gender; Student Records, Biographics tab, Edit, Gender.

Not allowed

1

Male

Text (1)

2

Female

12

ESLELD

This student is currently an English as a second language (ESL) or English literacy development (ELD) learner; Student Records, View Menu, Report Card Details & EQAO Tests, Program tab. If ESL or ESD is checked for the student’s Science course, 1 (for Yes) will appear. Otherwise # (no/Not filled in) will appear.

Not
allowed

#
 

No

Text (1)

1

Yes

13

IEPStatus

This student has an Individual Education Plan (IEP)

If IEP for all Special Ed. Students is checked (on the form where you create this EQAO file), then all active special ed. students, with an exceptionality will have 1 (Yes). If the IEP for all Special Ed. Students is not checked, then it will calculate IEP based on the following:

-Special Ed status = Active

          -Student has a placement and a Placement date

 

Not
allowed

#
 

No

Text (1)

1

Yes

14

IPRCCategoryBehaviour

This student has special needs and has been identified as having the following exceptionality: behaviour; Student Records, Special Ed. tab, Edit, exceptionality contains Behaviour (Ministry code 01 in exceptionality table). *

Note: Exceptionalities are ignored if the special ed status is Inactive.

Not
allowed

#
 

No

Text (1)

1

Yes

15

IPRCCategoryAutism

This student has special needs and has been identified as having the following exceptionality: autism spectrum disorders;

Student Records, Special Ed. tab, Edit; exceptionality contains Autism (Ministry code 02). *

Note: Exceptionalities are ignored if the special ed status is Inactive.

Not
allowed

#
 

No

Text (1)

1

Yes

16

IPRCCategoryDeaf

This student has special needs and has been identified as having the following exceptionality: deaf or hard of hearing;

Student Records, Special Ed. tab, Edit; exceptionality contains Deaf and hard of hearing or Deaf (Alternate Program) (Ministry code 03 or 21). *

Note: Exceptionalities are ignored if the special ed status is Inactive.

Not
allowed

#
 

No

Text (1)

1

Yes

17

IPRCCategoryBlind

This student has special needs and has been identified as having the following exceptionality: blind or low vision;

Student Records, Special Ed. tab, Edit; exceptionality contains Blind and low vision (Ministry code 08). *

Note: Exceptionalities are ignored if the special ed status is Inactive.

Not
allowed

#
 

No

Text (1)

1

Yes

18

IPRCCategoryGifted

This student has special needs and has been identified as having the following exceptionality: giftedness; Student Records, Special Ed. tab, Edit; exceptionality contains Giftedness (Ministry code 06). *

Note: Exceptionalities are ignored if the special ed status is Inactive.

Not
allowed

#
 

No

Text (1)

1

Yes

19

IPRCCategoryMildIntellectual

This student has special needs and has been identified as having the following exceptionality: mild intellectual disability;

 Student Records, Special Ed. tab, Edit; exceptionality contains Mild intellectual disability (Ministry code 07). *

Note: Exceptionalities are ignored if the special ed status is Inactive.

Not
allowed

#
 

No

Text (1)

1

Yes

20

IPRCCategoryDevelopmental

This student has special needs and has been identified as having the following exceptionality: developmental disability;

Student Records, Special Ed. tab, Edit; exceptionality contains Developmental disability (Ministry code 24). *

Note: Exceptionalities are ignored if the special ed status is Inactive.

Not
allowed

#
 

No

Text (1)

1

Yes

21

IPRCCategoryMultiple

This student has special needs and has been identified as having the following exceptionality: multiple exceptionalities;

Student Records, Special Ed. tab, Edit; exceptionality contains Multiple exceptionalities (Ministry code 10 or 23 Deaf/Blind Alternate Program). *If the student has more than one exceptionality, the individual IPRCCategory tags are set to # (no) and IPRCCategoryMultiple is set to 1 (yes).

 Note: Exceptionalities are ignored if the special ed status is Inactive.

Not
allowed

#
 

No

Text (1)

1

Yes

22

IPRCCategoryPhysical

This student has special needs and has been identified as having the following exceptionality: physical disability;

Student Records, Special Ed. tab, Edit; exceptionality contains Physical disability (Ministry code 09). *

Note: Exceptionalities are ignored if the special ed status is Inactive.

Not
allowed

#
 

No

Text (1)

1

Yes

23

IPRCCategorySpeech

This student has special needs and has been identified as having the following exceptionality: speech impairment;

Student Records, Special Ed. tab, Edit; exceptionality contains Speech impairment (Ministry code 20). *

Note: Exceptionalities are ignored if the special ed status is Inactive.

Not
allowed

#
 

No

Text (1)

1

Yes

24

IPRCCategoryLanguage

This student has special needs and has been identified as having the following exceptionality: language impairment;

Student Records, Special Ed. tab, Edit; exceptionality contains Language impairment (Ministry code 05). *

Note: Exceptionalities are ignored if the special ed status is Inactive.

Not
allowed

#
 

No

Text (1)

1

Yes

25

IPRCCategoryLearningDisabled
 

This student has special needs and has been identified as having the following exceptionality: learning disability;

Student Records, Special Ed. tab, Edit; exceptionality contains Learning disability (Ministry code 04). *

Note: Exceptionalities are ignored if the special ed status is Inactive.

Not
allowed

#
 

No

Text (1)
1 Yes