B.C. teachers push for province to get rid of standardized skills test for Grades 4 and 7

Students across B.C. in Grades 4 and 7 are required to take a standardized test – the Foundation Skills Assessment, or FSA – but teachers say the test is failing students, and should be eliminated.

“It’s not a valid test in our opinion,” said Clint Johnston, president of the BC Teachers Federation. “(It) puts stress on students. The ranking harms the students, teachers, communities.”

In recent days, the families of kids in Grades 4 and 7 across the province received a letter from the BCTF asking them to request that their kids be exempt from writing the test.

The BCTF wants the province to introduce legislation protecting how the data from the FSA is used. It’s concerned about rankings of schools across the province compiled by a think tank – the Fraser Institute – based on the test scores.

“When the Fraser Institute puts out these rankings based on one singular thing, it’s very damaging to students, schools, communities,” said Johnston Wednesday.

The Fraser Institute's rankings are dominated by private schools. The top 18 ranked schools – all tied for first out of 932 elementary schools – are all private schools. At the bottom of the list are public schools in more remote areas.

The BCTF says the FSA relies on computer literacy and use, and unfairly favours wealthier neighbourhoods.

“Student success doesn’t have a postal code, and this is a very tiny slice of a standardized test,” said Johnston.

The Fraser Institute cites polling it commissioned by Leger in 2022 that shows support amongst 80 per cent of B.C. parents for standardized testing.

“What standardized tests give us is a fair and objective measure by which we can undrstand how students are doing”, said the Fraser Institute's Paige MacPherson.

The BC United shadow critic for education, Elenore Sturko, agrees, noting the province has already done away with letter grades for students in kindergarten to Grade 9.

“It’s a way of us ensuring accountability in our system – to know that we are achieving the results that we need to get,” said Sturko. “We know that literacy actually dropped in the last year.”

In a statement issued to CTV News, the Education Ministry says the FSAs provide a tool to identify which students need support, although the ministry did acknowledge that the school rankings that flow from the tests can cause stigma.