Province to extend implementation period for new curriculum; shift timetable for FSA tests

Education Minister Mike Bernier
outlined some changes to how the province
is approaching its new curriculum and
the Foundation Skills Assessment process
(photo BC Gov't photo files)

The Ministry of Education is going to add some time to the implementation period for its new draft curriculum announcing today that teachers and students in grades ten to twelve will have an extra year to explore the program and provide feedback to the province related to it.

With the extra year of study for it, the redesigned curriculum for Grades 10 to 12 will now be implemented at the beginning of 2018-19 school year, with any changes that will be made provided through the feedback of teachers and students over the course of the two year review period.

Mike Bernier the Province's Minister of Education outlined why the additional time was needed towards the curriculum process.

“Teachers, principals and trustees asked for more time to work hands-on with the redesigned curriculum – and it’s the right thing to do to make sure that we get it right for our students,” ... “Curriculum in the high school years is more complex, is tied in to provincial exams and evaluated strictly. So it’s critical teachers have enough time to use the draft 10-12 curriculum and help shape it with their feedback.”

There was also a development when it comes to the controversial Foundations Skills Assessment testing process, with the Ministry of Education responding to some observations from teachers and educational experts on the testing process.

Starting in the 2017-18 School year the Foundation Skills Assessment tests will take place in October and November instead of the current schedule which sees them conducted in January and February.

The main purpose of the shift to earlier in the school year is to provide teachers and parents with a snapshot of student learning in the key areas at the start of the year, allowing teachers to address any challenges that a student may be having.

The FSA's are used to review a student's progress in reading, writing and numeracy and are taken by students in Grades 4 and 7 province wide.

In today's announcement, the province noted that it will be changing its approach when it comes to the release of the results of the FSA tests as well. Instead of simply releasing the data as it has done in the past, the Ministry will now be including the FSA results as part of  broader school reports that review a wide range of education outcomes.

You can examine the background to the two announcements of today from this information item from the Ministry of Education.

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