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 LiteracyFSA componentwill consistedtake ofyour multiplechild choiceabout 4 hours to complete over a few days during a four week writing period. The assessments include online and written-responsewritten questions. The writing component consists of two writing tasks – one extended (longer) piece, one focused (shorter) piece,questions and a setreflection 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.activity.
The written testsparts of the assessment will be marked by teachers from HCOS and the results sent to theyour 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. |
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What is an invigilator?
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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. |
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What time is involved for each test? |
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