Student Achievement to be examined through further testing

The Foundation Skills Assessment tests are a lightning rod of debate across the province as educators, parents and Education Ministry officials all take slightly different paths towards the topic and come up with very different views of the topic.

Much of the controversy over the testing comes up around this time each year, when the Fraser Institute releases its rankings of the province’s high school and elementary schools. It’s a regular exercise which seems to highlight a great gulf between rural and urban schools, year after year. It's a long simmering controversy that the Tyee examined back in April, which indicated that the provincial government was making a power play at the expense of the local school boards of the province.

That debate will now only grow in tone as the provincial government readies Bill 20 for implementation. It’s a move that will increase the use of standardized testing to better understand how students and schools are faring, as the education ministry uses testing and data as key indicators for student achievement.

It’s a process that has many concerned of an even greater gulf being created between the urban and rural school districts, Gary Coons, the MLA for the North coast has been following the issue carefully as it worked its way through the system and the Legislature.

The Daily News featured his thoughts and provided some background on the issue with a front page story in Wednesday’s paper.

PLANS FOR MORE TESTING IN SCHOOLS SLAMMED BY MLA
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Pages one and three

A new bill put forward by the province that puts more focus on standardized testing is not going to help rural students, said North Coast MLA Gary Coons.

He expressed his concerns during the debate on Bill 20 (The School Achievement Enabling Act.) Under the legislation, the deputy minister will appoint "Superintendents of Achievement", putting even more focus on student achievement and forcing educators to distribute resources in a way that only amplifies the gap between rural and urban schools, said Coons.

Coons said that standardized testing regimes like the foundations skills assessment (FSA) tests may have a negative effect on teachers and learning outcomes in rural areas.

"We must realize that teachers throughout this province realize that the joy in teaching comes from meeting the needs of every student and fostering the love of learning. The FSA test, which achievement is based on as far as this government is concerned, does not help teachers to do this important job. In fact, it may have negative effects on teaching and learning," he said.

Coons says he is not opposed to large-scale testing, but he doesn't believe it should be the sole measurement of achievement, and it must be used in a way that is respectful of teachers and students.

Bill 20 focuses on testing and data as key indicators for student achievement.

"I'm not opposed to large-scale testing. They may help in some situations, and they can provide important information - but as long as they are inclusive and are not being divisive. Large-scale testing as used by this government and such institutes as the Fraser Institute is not very accurate for individual results and undermines classroom assessments."

What is needed, according to Coons, is greater recognition of the resource gap faced by many rural school districts.

"I come from a region where the EDI - the early development instrument done by Clyde Hertzman in the North Coast, the Central Coast; I believe it was Haida Gwaii, the Queen Charlottes; Bulkley Valley-Stikine; Nass Valley - indicate that there's a vital need for resources, and there are very challenging issues in the school setting in these regions."

Coons appeared frustrated by the lack of action on the issue of the needs of rural school districts.
"The deputy minister of education, in one of his updates last year, said that approximately 20 percent of all preschoolers need some form of intervention prior to entering kindergarten, and the EDI indicator suggests that many of our most vulnerable learners live in rural areas," he said.

"Nothing has been done. Nothing has been done for rural education, for rural schools, for rural students."

Irreplaceable instruction time may be used teaching to the test, because of the pressure to perform well, suggests Coons. That time could be better used.

The way the FSA is used to rank schools is damaging, and inappropriate, said Coons, and it doesn't address the real needs of students and school districts.

"Another concern I have is how the tests are being used. We have a ranking of schools and a reporting of results and improvements.

"Don't get me wrong. As I said, comparisons are not bad, but comparing schools with other schools, as the media does and especially as the Fraser Institute has done, does not help and can cause great harm."