Getting the Facts on FSA

• Myth: This test induces so much stress it can cause harm to students.
  Fact:

  Last year, 85,000 Grade 4 and Grade 7 students completed the FSA.

  Is it stressful? It shouldn’t be. The FSA is not a pass-or-fail test, there is no overall FSA score, and the FSA doesn’t count toward your child’s report card marks. Be sure to tell your child this. All students should feel free to relax and achieve their best.

  If your child is concerned, help him or her try sample questions and tests. Also, look at the FSA as a rare no-stakes opportunity for your child to become comfortable when approaching notable tests — he or she will face others in time, from driver’s license tests to provincial exams, and from post-secondary demands to job interviews.

• Myth: This test is done so the Fraser Institute can rank schools.
  Fact:

  The FSA began in 2000. Until now, the main purpose has been to collect data to help schools, school planning councils, districts, and provincial policy makers.

  Only with such broad and reliable year-to-year data can these groups be fully accountable to students, parents, and taxpayers, answering the important questions such as “Are students learning the essential skills they will rely on throughout their lives?” and “Are we steadily improving?”

  Now, the Province has improved the FSA to better serve the students who write it by getting individual results to parents and classroom teachers within the same school year. That means the FSA can now be used to improve the larger education system and tailor your child’s education program in reading, writing, or math. That’s important.

• Myth: Teachers “teach to the test” and this takes away from valuable classroom learning.
  Fact:

  FSA tests are written by B.C. teachers and based on B.C. curriculum.

  That means that the activities and lessons that make up regular classroom time should help students develop the essential skills tested in the FSA and needed to succeed in subsequent grades, post-secondary study, and the workplace.

  The only additional preparation required is that students should be made comfortable with the FSA format. That can be achieved as easily as having students try the sample FSA questions on this website.

  And the time spent writing the FSA is reasonable — about five hours over at least three days. Only Grade 4 and Grade 7 students participate. This means that the FSA amounts to about two school days out of the first 10 years of a student’s schooling, or 0.1 per cent.

• Myth: The test is expensive and the funds would be better spent on other resources.
  Fact:

  FSA is not expensive. It costs about $20 for each student in Grade 4 and Grade 7, or an average of $2 a year over a student's first 10 years of schooling.
  
  For this, schools, school planning councils, school districts, and provincial policy makers get an important measure that allows them to track and continually improve B.C.’s education system. Schools, classroom teachers, and parents, meanwhile, are better able to assess and meet the needs of each and every unique student.

  B.C. has its largest education budget ever — $4.345 billion, which includes an increase of $116 million despite this year’s province-wide enrolment decline of over 4,800 students. FSA provides a measure of accountability for this large and growing investment.

• Myth: The test is optional and since it doesn’t count toward my child’s report card there’s no reason to have my son or daughter participate.
  Fact:

  Each and every Grade 4 and Grade 7 student in a B.C. public school or publicly-funded independent school is expected to write the FSA. Last year, it was written by 85,000 students.

  There are French versions of the FSA exams for Francophone students and arrangements to accommodate most students with special needs. Exceptions are few and limited.

For additional questions and answers, visit our Questions and Answers page.