Testing scheme doesn’t improve score

(BCTF E-news, Vol. 6, no. 3, Nov 20, 2006)

The BC Liberal government has been claiming it wants to improve student achievement, and by that it means test scores. Last year’s Grade 7 Foundation Skills Assessment reading scores are the lowest in five years, the same length of time the government has been in power.

When the education minister was questioned about the test results she said, “We have to ask ourselves, which [initiatives] are working and which ones are not.”

Closing school libraries and increasing class sizes haven’t helped students develop literacy skills. On the contrary, there is 50 years of research showing that a properly staffed and well-maintained school library is the best way to support academic achievement.