13.2°C Not observed 
Parents' concern over the usefulness of a controversial Foundation Skills Assessment test is growing as students finish the 2009/2010 school year.
The FSA is a standardized test administered annually province-wide to students in grades 4 and 7. The assessment covers academic skills, and provides a snapshot of how well B.C. students are learning foundation skills in reading comprehension, writing and numeracy.
“Teachers believe the Foundation Skills Assessment test is not an appropriate measure of student progress and actually takes time away from meaningful teaching and learning,” announced B.C. Teachers’ Federation President Irene Lanzinger, June 29.
“More parents than ever before pulled their children out of these controversial tests because they do not see the value of the results. And, to release the results on the second last day of school suggests the Minister of Education is struggling to find examples of their usefulness too.”
The main purpose of the assessment is said to help the province, school districts, schools and school planning councils to evaluate how well students are doing and make plans in order to improve.
“What are teachers and school communities supposed to do with results for grade 7 students when the children are already out the door and on to a brand new secondary school,” continued Lanzinger. “The government’s standardized testing agenda is not working.
“The B.C. Teachers Federation has asked the government to move towards random sampling and participate in a task force on assessment with other education partner groups,” said Rich Overgaard, Media Relations person for the BCTF. “The BCTF, however, will continue to work with stakeholders to push for better models of assessment.”
The B.C. Ministry of Education's FSA test, created by a think tank called The Fraser Institute, ranks half of Merritt Grade 7 students as not able to keep up with the provincial average of numeracy expectations.
Expectations for reading and writing in School District 58 is about 20 per cent lower than the provincial average.
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
Survey results are meant for general information only, and are not based on recognised statistical methods.
BCTF says teachers want task force and random sampling instead of FSAs
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