The president of the B.C. Teachers’ Federation is calling on parents to have their children excused from writing the upcoming annual Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA) tests, saying students are facing immense pressure due to COVID-19 and teachers do not want to add to that stress.
In an open letter to parents this week, Teri Mooring, noting the results are misused by a private organization to rank schools based on a very narrow measure, said the tests take valuable time and much needed resources away from classroom learning and undermines the ability to provide meaningful learning experiences for all students.
“Now is the time for building community and creating supportive class environments after the pandemic disrupted in-class learning and altered our students’ lives. The FSA tests do not count toward your children’s marks and they do not help students learn or teachers teach,” wrote Mooring. “Teachers do not believe the FSA is a reliable method of measuring individual progress. Teachers are concerned with the misuse of data from these tests. FSA data rarely results in more funding and resources to meet our students’ needs. However, the Fraser Institute has used the data to unfairly and inappropriately rank schools.”
The provincial government has been administering the FSA tests in writing and numeracy to all students in grades 4 and 7 since 2000.
Parents can notify their children’s schools if they wish to have their child opt out from writing them.
While the Delta school board hasn’t gone so far as to suggest parents do so, the school board has conveyed concerns about the FSA and is calling on the province to come up with a more effective measure of student progress.
Trustees last fall voted unanimously in favour of initiating education partner consultation to elicit feedback about their concerns with the FSA and ask for input on what forms of assessment they feel would better serve students in the district.
While not naming the Fraser Institute, Delta school trustee Laura Dixon said the data is being misconstrued by a third party which conducts the annual ranking of B.C. schools.
“When I see local realtors advertising using Foundation Skills Assessment, something has gone awry,” she said.
Dixon said a new assessment method needs to be proposed to the education ministry which better reflects trends and how school districts can continue to improve.
Trustee Nick Kanakos agreed, saying Delta leads the province when it comes to graduation rates, but it’s not reflected in an unfair annual ranking which relies on a small assessment component.
Noting the current FSA data collection is largely insignificant, board chair Val Windsor said the district is already focused on its own meaningful and ongoing assessment and evaluation, and that she trusts Delta’s educators.
