Foundation Skills Assessment - FSA

The Foundation Skills Assessment is an annual, province-wide assessment of British Columbia students’ academic skills, and provides a snapshot of how well BC students are learning foundation skills in Literacy and Numeracy. These are assessments for students in Grades 4 and 7. 

The FSA is not optional unless students meet a very narrow set of requirements for exemption.

HCOS will be administering the assessments and families receive a package in order to carry them out at home. Here is some information to help you and your child prepare for the tests.

There are two categories of assessment; the assessments in total take about four hours. Here are the categories:

• Literacy
• Numeracy

The Literacy component consisted of multiple choice and written-response questions. The writing component consists of two writing tasks – one extended (longer) piece, one focused (shorter) piece, and a set of math problems, where the child needs to show their work. The multiple choice questions are done online. You will be mailed a booklet with the writing component.

The written tests will be marked by teachers from HCOS and the results sent to the support teacher.

The results will be based on the following proficiencies:

• Extending – Sophisticated understanding of the concepts and competencies in relation to expected learning.
• Proficient – Complete understanding of the concepts and competencies in relation to expected learning.
• Developing - Partial understanding of the concepts and competencies in relation to expected learning.
• Emerging –Initial understanding of the concepts and competencies in relation to expected learning. 

FSA Questions and Answers

What does FSA stand for?	FSA stands for Foundation Skills Assessment and this test is given to all students in BC enrolled in grades 4 and 7.
What subjects are tested?	The student is tested in Literacy and Numeracy.
What is an invigilator?	An invigilator is a person responsible for supervising a test. The invigilator for the FSAs is either a teacher (in our case, with HCOS) or any person the administration deems as unbiased. This can be the parent of the child.
What time is involved for each test?	The time varies from test to test    Reading Comprehension  Part one: Collaboration 10-15 minutes Part two: 30 minutes  Writing    45 minutes   Numeracy                                            45 minutes  Online Reading: 60 minutes Online Numeracy: 60 minutes Total time about four hours.