Mr. Marz: Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday we heard in the Assembly that the number of teachers has increased in the province by 10 per cent while at the same time the student popula­tion has only increased by 1 per cent. My question to the Minister of Education is: have student achievement test results seen a corresponding rate of increase during that same time frame?

Mr. Hancock: Well, Mr. Speaker, I think the short answer to that would have to be no. The PAT results, or the standard of excellence, have remained relatively stable during this time frame. There was a slight decline since 2005-2006. We saw improvement at the acceptable and excellence levels in 2008 and 2009. But I'd have to say that student outcomes have not increased commensurate with the investment in the class size initiative.

Mr. Marz: Mr. Speaker, we've repeatedly heard that high class sizes produce low test results. Then wouldn't it be logical to assume that lower class sizes should produce better test results? Why is this not the case?

Mr. Hancock: Well, Mr. Speaker, I think it's fair to say that there are a number of factors that go into it. Having said that student outcomes haven't increased in a commensurate way is not to say that there haven't been a lot of good things happen as a result of the class size initiative. Teacher satisfaction, parent satisfaction with the education system has improved significantly. Obviously, the ability of teachers to do their jobs has improved significantly. With respect to the question of outcomes I think it's fair to say that the research and the literature suggest that class sizes themselves in the higher grades do not make a significant difference, but it does at K to 3.

Mr. Marz: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Then my final question to the same minister: what's this minister doing to improve test results aside from just trying to reduce class size?

Mr. Hancock: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do want to say that in this year's budget we have reprofiled the class size initiative money so that it is focusing on increasing the number of teachers at the K to 3 level, where the research shows that it does make a significant difference, and at the high school level with respect to the credit enrolment units for courses where it makes a difference; in other words, courses where safety is a factor or class size is a factor.

The other thing we have to realize is that there are differences in class sizes across the province, and what we report on are the averages of school boards.