NDP renewing pledge to get rid of FSA if elected
Posted January 8, 2013 12:57 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – An annual and controversial test of students in grades four and seven is on shaky ground heading into this spring’s provincial election.
The New Democrats vow to replace the Foundation Skills Assessment if elected, while the current eduction minister is also open to change.
The test gets underway in schools next week, a longstanding frustration for BC Teachers’ Federation.
Union President Susan Lambert wants it gone. “What it promotes is conformity, standardization of practice. It doesn’t treat any individual student as an individual but as a group.”
NDP education critic Robin Austin says his party would replace it in the first year by randomized sampling, followed later by a much broader look at how children and schools are doing.
“What we have come to realize, having had the FSAs now for over twelve years is that it doesn’t tell you the overall sense of how a school is doing. It’s only a snapshot of one thing.”
For his part, Education Minister Don McRae calls it a good measure but is willing to look at improvements.
“It’s a good measure right now but even good measures can be done in a better manner. I think it’s important that government continues to look at other ways we can improve and evolve the evaluation process for students, and if we can do it better, we need to consider it.”
The assessment is used to evaluate how well students are doing in basic skills.
