B.C.'s Ministry of Education to go ahead with standardized testing despite teachers' ethical concerns
The Ministry of Education will go ahead with standardized testing for all students in Grades 4 and 7, despite criticism from the president of the B.C. Teachers’ Federation.
On Thursday, BCTF’s Teri Mooring released a public letter sharply criticizing the ministry for its plans to administer the Foundation Skills Assessment tests.
Then, in an interview with CTV News Vancouver, Mooring elaborated on the ways in which she thinks the skills assessment tests are hurtful to kids.
“In my home district of Quesnel, I happened to be at a school that tended to fare poorly on the FSA tests,” she said.
“It had a really negative impact, not only on teacher morale, but also on students, and how students viewed themselves as learners at our school.”
The BCTF say it's also concerned about ethics and claims data from the test results is misused to create school rankings.
“They get used by outside groups to erroneously rank schools,” she said.
“We have real ethical concerns around data being misused.”
Students at private schools, where their parents aren’t worried about meeting their basic needs and where class sizes can be kept small, tend to do better on the exams, Mooring said.
“The outside groups that have been misusing the data have really done it in a deliberate way to promote private education and undermine public education," she said.
“Private schools that can control the number of students in their classes, that charge large tuitions, that don’t accept all students, tend to do really well on the FSAs, and schools in lower socio-economic parts of the province tend to do poorly."
B.C. Minister of Education Jennifer Whiteside did not make herself available for an interview. However, the ministry provided a statement, defending the tests.
“We care deeply about understanding student progress, especially for Indigenous students and vulnerable populations,” it reads.
“Understanding student progress helps support equity in education."
The ministry also said it doesn’t support ranking schools, and claims it’s changed how the test results are published, but did not specify whether it means test data is no longer tied to specific schools.
“The ministry has changed how it publicly reports FSA data in alignment with privacy legislation and best practices," the statement said.
The ministry also stated that it’s been meeting with different groups who are concerned about the testing.
“We will continue to work to refine assessments so we can best support all students in B.C.,” the statement continues.
But Mooring is upset by what she sees as inaction, and says that by continuing to give the exams, the government is “complicit” with the think tanks that rank schools by test scores. The concerns she’s currently raising were also raised in depth in 2017, she said, but the testing is still the same, and is still being administered, year after year.
“We’re still doing them because (the ministry and) government hasn’t decided to do something different yet.”
With files from CTV News Vancouver's Ben Miljure
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Made-in-Newfoundland vodka claims top prize at worldwide competition
A Newfoundland-made vodka has been named one of the world’s best by judges at this year’s World Vodka Awards.