Author Archives: cgagnon

Starting on Tuesday, October 1 through to Friday, November 8, 2024, all B.C. students in Grades 4 and 7 will be participating in the B.C. Ministry of Education and Child Care’s Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA).

CMSD82 parents-caregivers of students in Grades 4 and 7 received an FSA information letter and an FSA parent-caregiver brochure from Superintendent Tracey MacMillan sharing details of the Foundation Skills Assessment.  Parents-Caregivers should contact their school Principal or Vice Principal if they have questions about the Foundation Skills Assessment.

The Foundation Skills Assessment is annual province-wide assessment of all B.C. students’ academic skills in Grades 4 and 7.  Assessments provide important information of how well students are progressing in the foundation skills of Literacy and Numeracy.  This province-wide assessment:

• is based on B.C. curriculum.
• was created collaboratively by teachers, educational experts, and B.C.’s Ministry of Education and Child Care.
• happens early in the school year to help guide teaching and learning.
• is a ‘snapshot’ of what students have learned in reading, writing and numeracy so far in their school career.
• has four parts: a Collaboration Activity, a Student Booklet, some Online Questions, and a Student Self-Reflection.
• is used alongside other quality classroom assessments throughout the year.

The Ministry of Education and Child Care expects all children in Grades 4 and 7 to write the FSA.  Only Principals have the authority to excuse students due to a family emergency, lengthy illness or other extenuating circumstances.  We believe it is important to have as many students as possible writing this assessment.  This is one assessment of many that we use to track student achievement.  The more information we have about each student’s learning, the better equipped we are to make informed decisions at the classroom and school level.

For more extensive information, please refer to the Ministry of Education and Child Care provincial website which provides further details on all aspects of this assessment and its use, along with sample assessments that can be used for practice.

Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA) – Province of British Columbia (gov.bc.ca)