The President of the Chilliwack Teachers’ Association, Ed Klettke, and the BC Teachers’ Federation are calling on
the Minister of Education, Jennifer Whiteside, to end the Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA). In addition, Ed
Klettke is calling on the Chilliwack Board of Education to petition the Minister to end the test amidst what will be a
challenging and unprecedented school year.

“Teachers and parents in British Columbia have become increasingly concerned about the Foundation Skills
Assessment tests that are given to all students in Grades 4 and 7. This test does not help students learn or teachers
teach and takes valuable time and resources away from classroom learning. The test undermines teachers’ ability to
provide meaningful learning experiences for all students. Research shows that other forms of assessment are more
useful for broadly evaluating the educational system and its programs,” says Ed Klettke, President of the Chilliwack
Teachers’ Association. “Chilliwack teachers strongly believe that the loss of instructional time and the quality of
education for students has been deeply impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Students lost three months of face to
face instruction at the end of the 2019-2020 school year. The beginning of the 2020-2021 school year has brought
additional challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic such as high anxiety amongst students as well as issues around
attendance. Students cannot afford to lose any more meaningful instructional time doing assessments that do not
impact their education,” Klettke states.

Since 2000, the FSA has been a required assessment by the Ministry of Education. The results have been misused by
the Fraser Institute to rank schools on a very narrow measure. The data does not result in additional funding or
support for students, and rankings are published in newspapers. The ongoing practice of ranking schools is harmful
to students and staff.

Ed Klettke says, “The FSA tests were not developed with a focus on trauma informed practice. This test adds
additional, unwarranted stress and anxiety to students who are already feeling the pressures of the COVID-19
pandemic.” Understanding that parents want to know how well their students are performing in school, Ed Klettke
adds, “The best source of information about your child’s progress is their classroom teacher and not the FSA results.”
Teachers use a wide range of assessment tools in their classrooms to support student learning, which allows them to
monitor progress and adjust their teaching to meet student needs. The FSAs are not
a reliable method of measuring individual progress.