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Supporting your planning for improved student achievement

Last updated: January 2025

IT'S TIME!

It's time to step back and take a fresh look at student achievement in British Columbia!

Part 1. Looking Through the Lens of Provincial Standards

Main Concept: LEVELS of Student Achievement

WHERE ARE WE? In British Columbia, we’ve had annual Foundation Skills Assessments of student achievement in Grade 4 and Grade 7 since 1999/2000. Originally the assessments included Grade 10, but they were discontinued after 2002/03. They also included assessments of Writing, but they were discontinued after 2020/21. So we have FSA results in Literacy (previously called Reading Comprehension) and Numeracy from 1999/00 to 2023/24 – 25 years of assessments in all.

We also have Graduation Assessments in Grade 10 Literacy, Grade 10 Numeracy, and Grade 12 Literacy. However, we have only a few years of these results – not yet enough to identify long-term trends.

The Foundation Skills Assessments have been conducted in three Series. The First FSA Series was from 1999/00 to 2006/07 (8 years), when they were administered in May of each year, and the provincial standards were based on the curriculum up to May of the curriculum for each grade level. The Second FSA Series was from 2007/08 to 2016/17 (10 years), when they were administered in February of each year, and the provincial standards were based on the curriculum up to February of the curriculum for each grade level. The Third (and current) FSA Series is from 2017/18 to 2023/24 (7 years to date). They are administered in October/November of each year, and the provincial standards are based on the curriculum up to the end of the previous grade level, for each of Grades 4 and 7. At this time of writing, the 2024/25 FSA has been administered and is being processed.

The 2020/21 FSA was administered in February 2021 rather than November 2020 because of the COVID epidemic. It provided anomalous results because students had an additional 3 months to meet provincial standards, and at provincial level, achievement spiked in comparison to previous years.

For both the FSA and PISA, student achievement is categorized into hierarchical LEVELS of achievement. In BC, these levels are currently called Emerging, On Track, and Extending. Each category is defined by a range of scores calculated by Item Response Theory. Typically, results are reported as the number of students who are either On Track or Extending, divided by the number of students who are either Emerging, On Track or Extending, and expressed as the percentage of students who meet or exceed provincial standards.

WHAT DO THE RESULTS TELL US? The answer to this question needs to overcome two problems. The first problem is that provincial standards have changed twice since 1999/2000. As a result, we cannot include any change that occurred between the three FSA Series; however, we can determine the amount of change WITHIN each FSA Series and add them up, while recognizing that by doing so, we are referring to the CUMULATIVE change in student achievement at each grade level.

The second problem is that the Ministry of Education and Child Care appears to have lost sight of the purpose behind some of the original internal coding (Analysis Codes) used in the analysis of student responses during the First FSA Series. The result is that the Ministry has provided incorrect FSA results to BC schools and districts for the past 17 years - since the beginning of the Second FSA Series in 2007/08 to the present day. All incorrect FSA results are lower than the correct FSA results because of the incorrect inclusion of Invalid records in the results. Adminfo Resources Inc. has repaired all FSA results for the past 7 years (the Third FSA Series) and is making them available with proper documentation in two new customized Student Achievement Reports – one for districts and one for schools. FSA results for the Second FSA Series from 2007/08 to 2016/17 have not yet been repaired.

Based on FSA results currently available, the results tell us that over the 25 years of assessments, the Grade 4 results are a mixed bag. For the province, the cumulative percentage of Grade 4 students meeting or exceeding provincial standards in Grade 4 Literacy has declined by about 6 percent since 1999/2000. The cumulative percentage for Grade 4 Numeracy has increased by just over 4 percent (primarily due to an increase of 6.6 percent during the First FSA Series).

At Grade 7, the cumulative percentage for Grade 7 Literacy has declined by 14 percent, and the cumulative percentage for Numeracy has declined by about 7 percent. These declines began well before the COVID epidemic.

This decline in Grade 7 Literacy and Numeracy is consistent with similar declines for BC 15-year-olds from 2003 to 2022 reported by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).

Part 2. Looking Through the Lens of Effective Instructional Programs

Main Concept: GAINS in Student Achievement

WHERE ARE WE? We have to move away from the belief that if a school (or district) has a higher percentage of students meeting or exceeding provincial standards, it therefore has more effective instructional programs than other schools (or districts). The higher percentage may be due to factors outside the control of the school (or district) such as socioeconomic levels, or the number of single-parent families, or attendance rates, or a more urban setting resulting in less travel to and from school, or a stronger cohort of students in one particular year.

There is a better way to find evidence of the effectiveness of instructional programs while reducing the influence of factors outside the control of schools (and districts), and that is by tracking the achievement levels of the same students over time. By matching the Grade 4 cohort of students with the Grade 7 cohort in the same school (or district) three years later, we can compare their FSA scores to see if they increase or decrease over that period, relative to control groups of students in the rest of the province. These Matched Cohorts of students are the basis for identifying the schools (or districts) in which more (or less) effective instructional programs may be found. The results can be used by education leaders to focus their efforts to significantly improve student achievement across the province.

More information on the Matched Cohort methodology and results can be found by visiting Effective Instructional Programs. In particular, the cartoon in A Galileo Moment (PDF) illustrates the difference in perspective between the two lenses with which we look for evidence of improving student achievement described in Part 1 and Part 2 above. The document The Empowering Schools Project (PDF) describes how the Matched Cohort methodology can be put to use to help schools and districts understand which features of instructional programs work best to improve student achievement in Literacy and Numeracy.

WHAT DO THE RESULTS TELL US? The results tell us that the BC schools with the most effective instructional programs in Literacy and Numeracy from Grade 4 to Grade 7 are dominated by public schools, not independent schools. Some of the schools with the most effective instructional programs are ranked low by the Fraser Institute based mostly on results seen through the lens of Provincial Standards, but still use best practices based on results seen through the lens of Effective Instructional Programs.

The results also tell us that there are schools in dire need of help. We often don’t know where to look if we use the wrong lens. There are pairs of schools (Diverging Schools - PDF) in which students begin Grade 4 at the same achievement levels but diverge dramatically by the time the same students reach Grade 7. What are the best practices leading to dramatic improvement in some schools but not others? The key to finding best practices lies in knowing where to look, and which lens to use. The Empowering Schools Project (PDF) shows us how. It needs support to get it running, and a post-secondary institutional host with appropriate levels of expertise.


The results tell us that if we want to improve student achievement, it’s time to change our lenses. The BC Ministry of Education and Child Care can take a leadership role if it chooses. Education partners can build awareness. In particular, parents have a voice but they need to speak up. This is new territory.


To see sample school and district Student Achievement Reports which look through both lenses, or to order customized Student Achievement Reports for specific schools or districts (available only to schools and districts), please visit the Products page.