Guest Speaker - Peter Cowley

Our speaker this week was the Director of School Performance Studies with The Fraser Institute. Since 2000 the Ministry of Education has been administering Foundation Skills Assessment tests to students in Grades 4 and 7. They will be given this year between Feb. 4th and Feb. 15th. The results of these tests province wide are used to compile a Report Card for schools. Educators can see whether their school's performance has improved or deteriorated compared to past years. They can also see how it compares with the provincial average or others schools close by. Parents like this information as it is a third party objective evaluation and they often become advocates for improvements in the school. Peter also informed us that "Social Justice" is now part of BC's Kindergarten-to-Grade 12 curriculum. This has received very little publicity and "Social Responsibility" may have been a better choice.