The provincial government released the results of the 2012 Foundation Skills Assessment for grades four and seven, and the results show that Prince Rupert students are behind others in BC when it comes to reading, writing and numeracy.
In grade four classes in the Prince Rupert School District, 66 per cent of students were meeting or exceeding expectations in reading compared to 70 per cent across BC, 59 per cent were meeting or exceeding expectations in writing compared to 72 per cent across BC and 57 per cent were meeting or exceeding expectations for numeracy compared to 68 per cent in BC.
And while the district was behind the provincial numbers overall, the stats show Aboriginal students in grade four in the district are on par with their provincial counterparts. In reading 53 per cent met or exceeded expectations both in the district and the province, in writing the numbers were 52 per cent in the district and 53 per cent in the province, and in numeracy Prince Rupert Aboriginal students were higher than the provincial numbers at 53 per cent compared to 49 per cent.
When the comparison is made to grade seven students, those in the Prince Rupert School District are also behind the provincial numbers than in grade four. In reading 48 per cent of students met or exceeded expectations locally compared to 64 per cent across the province, in writing 57 per cent were meeting or exceeding expectations compared to 71 per cent across BC, and in numeracy just 41 per cent of students were meeting or exceeding expectations compared to 60 per cent across the province.
While grade four Aboriginal students were on par with others in the province, that is not the case for the grade seven students. In reading, writing and numeracy the number of students meeting or exceeding expectations are 37 per cent, 44 per cent and 27 per cent compared to BC numbers of 45 per cent, 53 per cent and 36 per cent, respectively.
In the Haida Gwaii School District, student sin grade four are just below the provincial numbers in reading (69 per cent meeting or exceeding expectations compared to 70 per cent), are outperforming others in BC in writing (74 per cent compared to 72 per cent) and are just below the provincial numbers in numeracy (65 per cent compared to 68 per cent). Students in grade seven are below the provincial numbers in all three categories at 58 per cent for reading, 65 per cent for writing and 49 per cent for numeracy.
While the FSA has come under fire due to its use by the Fraser Institute to rank schools, Education Minister George Abbott defends the test and making the results public.
"FSA results are an important tool in measuring student achievement provincewide. They give parents, teachers, school districts and schools a snapshot of how students are doing in the core skills of reading, writing and numeracy," he said.
"Parents want this information, and I believe the more information parents have, the better able they are to support and help to improve the learning of their children."
The provincial numbers looked at 42,793 students in grade four and 45,224 students in grade seven. In the Prince Rupert School District there were 165 grade four students and 145 grade seven students. In Haida Gwaii there were 43 grade four students and 45 grade seven students.
A school by school report is also available at http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/reporting/