BCTF renews call for BC families to 'take a stand against standardized testing'

With the provincial government indicating that it has no plans to do away with the practice of Standardized  testing under the Foundation Skills Assessment, the British Columbia Teachers Federation has once again renewed their call for the program to be eliminated.

The latest salvo in the ongoing dispute over the standardized testing came by way of an Open Letter to families from BCTF President Terry Mooring, who reprises many of the past concerns that the organization has had with the program.

The letter observing that BC's teachers have two main reasons towards their opposition:

"It’s not helpful to students, teachers, or families; and it’s making existing inequities worse."

The full letter to families can be reviewed below:

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Towards further action on the their opposition to the testing, the BCTF notes that over the last number of years that parents have withdrawn their children from the testing, a process which the BCTF perhaps hopes will lead to an elimination by attrition.

The BCTF has also offered some further guidance and resources for families on the them through their website.

Included in that initiative is a petition calling on Education Minister Jennifer Whiteside to eliminate the FSA's.

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Earlier this year, the BCTF highlighted the challenges of the pandemic in its call to eliminate the testing process.

As they note in their correspondence, the Fraser Institute uses the data taken from the FSA's towards their yearly snapshot on education and how each school district is faring when it comes towards educating the youth of the province.

The BCTF approach to the topic this week comes following a recent Fraser Institute article which observed that from their review of data Spending on BC public schools has increased, while student results are in decline.

For its part the Ministry of Education notes that the Foundation Skills Assessment provides parents, teachers, schools, school districts and the Ministry of Education with important information on how well students are progressing in the foundation skills of Literacy and Numeracy. 

The Province has outlined what's ahead for the program in 2022-22 below, with the fall FSA testing taking place through to November 12:

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More notes on Education in the Northwest can be explored here.