New Westminster continues to be ahead of the provincial curve when it comes to student FSA results.
The FSAs, or Foundation Skills Assessments, are standardized provincial tests given to grades 4 and 7 students across the province.
The FSAs have proven controversial for many years, since the Fraser Institute uses the results to create rankings of schools across B.C.
But Maureen McRae-Stanger, director of instruction for the New Westminster school district, said SD40 doesn’t use the results to rank its schools. Rather, she said, they’re one way for the district to examine trends around student achievement and figure out how to find and address any gaps it identifies.
McRae-Stanger presented the district’s 2021/22 FSA results to trustees at their education committee meeting in February. The numbers showed the vast majority of students in New Westminster schools are “on track” or “extending” in literacy and numeracy.
Literacy numbers higher than numeracy — but numeracy on the way up
As has been the case in past years, literacy results are New Westminster’s strong point.
Among Grade 4 students who wrote the FSAs, 79 per cent were on track or extending in New West, ahead of the 75 per cent result for B.C. as a whole. For Grade 7s, 78 per cent of New West students were on track or extending, compared to 74 per cent provincewide.
Numeracy results, though somewhat lower, were also higher than the provincial outcomes.
Among Grade 4s, 73 per cent of New West students were on track or extending, compared to 66 per cent provincewide. Among Grade 7s, the New West number was 74 per cent, compared to 66 per cent in B.C.
“For literacy, we are typically stronger than we are in numeracy over the past several years,” McRae-Stanger said. “And we are really trying to focus on making sure that we get those numeracy scores up further.”
She pointed to the biggest improvement in New Westminster’s results this time around: the Grade 7 numeracy results, which were slightly below the provincial numbers in 2020/21 but exceeded them by a significant margin in 2022/23.
McRae-Stanger noted the district now has a numeracy facilitator who has been targeting work with middle school students, particularly those in Grade 6, and the results of those efforts are now being seen.
In total, SD40 had 81 per cent of Grade 4 students write the FSAs. The participation rate was slightly lower in Grade 7, where 69 per cent of students took part.
McRae-Stanger pointed out there has been “pushback” from the B.C. Teachers’ Federation about the FSAs because of the Fraser Institute rankings, and some parents have decided not to have their children write the FSAs as a result.
FSA results for Indigenous students above B.C. average
The district also breaks down its FSA results specifically for Indigenous students and diverse learners — though, with a much smaller cohort size, McRae-Stanger pointed out results can vary widely based on the results of just a few students.
Among Indigenous students, 73 per cent of Grade 4 students and 69 per cent of Grade 7 students were on track or extending — ahead of the B.C. totals of 59 per cent and 54 per cent, respectively.
For numeracy, 67 per cent of Grade 4 students and 62 per cent of Grade 7 students were on track or extending — compared to 45 per cent and 39 per cent provincewide.
“All the results for New West schools are above the provincial average,” said Connie Swan, the district vice-principal for Indigenous education.
Swan noted the cohort sizes were very small, with just 23 students in Grade 4 and 28 in Grade 7.
She said the district is working to increase participation rates among Indigenous students — 78 per cent wrote in Grade 4, and 57 per cent in Grade 7 — to help close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous learners.
What about diverse learners? SD40 sees low participation rates
The district’s lowest participation rates and results can be seen among diverse learners.
That category includes all students with a B.C. Ministry of Education designation in what it classifies as categories A through H, including physical disabilities, autism spectrum disorder, intensive behaviour interventions and serious mental illness.
In the New West school district, that’s a small number of students: 30 in Grade 4 and 86 in Grade 7. Of those, just 37 per cent of Grade 4s and 43 per cent of Grade 7s wrote the FSAs.
For many of those students, test taking is a “high-anxiety, high-pressure” situation, according to Bruce Cunnings, the district’s director of instruction for learning services.
In most cases, he said, those who didn’t write the FSAs were excluded at their parents’ request. Those who do opt to write the FSAs receive support to do so — such as from a support teacher or education assistant, or an alternative space to write the assessment.
Cunnings noted the Grade 4 results have trended down, with both literacy and numeracy dropping over the last couple of years. For literacy, 45 per cent of diverse learners were on track or extending, compared to 60 per cent provincewide; for numeracy, just 30 per cent were on track or extending, compared to 46 per cent provincewide.
The Grade 7 results showed an upturn over 2020/21, and both sets of results were above the B.C. bar: 62 per cent for literacy, compared to 53 per cent for B.C.; and 49 per cent for numeracy, compared to 42 per cent for B.C.
Cunnings told trustees that, when he examines those results with his staff, they consider the outcomes in the context of the individual students: what their particular disability or diverse ability is, and what their IEP (individual education plan) focuses on.
“It’s good for us to see the trend, but also we like to break down what are the individual stories for those students,” Cunnings said. “But certainly, we’d like to see that trending higher.”
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