Monica Lamb-Yorski
When British Columbia students sit down to complete foundation skill assessment (FSA) tests this year, the test will not be administered by teachers.
Administrators will do that instead, according to Cariboo Chilcotin Teachers Association president Joan Erb.
“I just met with the assistant superintendent about it today and can confirm that the administrators will administer the FSA tests. It will be the same around the province.”
The exams are an awful lot of work,” Erb says, adding several administrators have administered the exams in past years, but there are a lot of administrators who have not.
“It will be an additional burden on the administrators.”
Since 2000, students at provincially funded public and independent schools across the province in Grades 4 and 7 have completed the assessment tests.
The questions cover reading comprehension, writing and numeracy.
Students answer multiple choice questions on the computer, a system that’s been in place since February 2008, and complete written work in a booklet that goes home to parents and guardians by March 31, along with the students’ overall assessment results.
The Ministry of Education says the main purpose of the assessment is to help evaluate how students are achieving basic skills and improve student achievement.
“Schools get information on how groups of students did on specific types of FSA questions. Using information from FSA, the Ministry of Education works with school districts to provide support for students and to improve teaching and learning for the coming school year,” states the ministry’s website.
On Nov. 21, field test units were made available on the education ministry’s website and will be there until Jan. 13.
After that, the tests are required to be administered to all students enrolled in Grade 4 and Grade 7 between Jan. 16 and Feb. 24.
School District 27 superintendent Diane Wright was not available for comment by press time, and assistant superintendent Harj Manhas declined to comment, saying he’d prefer to leave it to Wright.
In the past, however, Wright has said the results have shown student success rates are improving steadily across the board, especially in reading and writing.
A report she made in 2011 compared results over a three-year period that indicated the hard work of local teachers has paid off as is evident in the improved achievement of local students.
The B.C. Teachers’ Federation continues to protest the FSAs and has reposted a letter on its website this month, urging parents to request their children be exempt from writing the exams.
The BCTF letter states the tests are expensive to develop and administer, don’t help students learn or teachers teach; take valuable time away from richer and more meaningful learning; take valuable resources away from the classroom; results are misused to rank schools and promote privatization; and data doesn’t provide real help to students, parents or administrators.
Monica Lamb-Yorski is a Williams Lake Tribune writer.
