I am a Grade 4 teacher in Surrey. The Foundation Skills Assessment tests have been a prickly thorn since their inception more than 10 years ago.
I have many criticisms of the tests but the main one is that they are conducted too early in the year. They are held in late January and early February.
If these tests are to be a realistic measure of student progress, how can testing students so early in the year give a proper reading?
In October, when Premier Campbell gave his TV speech, he noted that students in B.C. were “not meeting grade expectations.”
Gee, I wonder why.
Could it be that the FSA tests are given before students have had a chance to cover all the material?
Has anyone in the education ministry stopped to think that maybe the tests are to blame and that they are not a realistic measure of student progress?
Another aspect of the tests being given in January/February that I find ridiculous is that valuable teaching time is used up in order to practise for and administer the FSA tests.
These two months are traditionally the most productive time of the year.
(September is a review month, October has a holiday and Halloween, December has a Christmas concert and a holiday).
This valuable teaching time is being taken away in order to test students on what they should know for the whole year.
It just doesn’t make sense. It’s time someone put a stop to this craziness.
And the sad part is that parents and students get the results of these tests and they are not an accurate measure of the child’s progress.
Jill Ewart
Surrey