Columbia Valley students — and their parents and teachers — will have to wait a little bit longer for the launch of the new provincial curriculum for upper year high school students.
The provincial Ministry of Eduction announced in a press release on Thursday, November 24th, that B.C. high school teachers will get an extra year to test and refine the planned new curriculum for Grade 10 to 12 students.The implementation of it has been pushed back from September 2017 to September 2018.
“Teachers, principals and trustees asked for more time to work hands-on with the redesigned curriculum — and it’s the right thing to do to make sure that we get it right for our students,” said provincial Education MinisterMike Bernier in the press release. “Curriculum in the high school years is more complex, is tied in to provincial exams and evaluated strictly. So it’s critical teachers have enough time to use the draft 10 to 12 curriculum and help shape it with their feedback.”
Some educators had already started using elements of a draft version of the curriculum this fall, gauging what works and what doesn’t, and providing feedback to the ministry on students’ reaction to the new approach.
“The new curriculum has been designed by teachers for teachers — and thanks to their efforts it’s been successfully brought to life in kindergarten through Grade 9,” Bernier said in the release. “The world is changing and our new curriculum is making sure our kids learn the skills they need to succeed in that changing world.”
The ministry has also announced enhancements to the Foundation Skills Assessments (FSA) test — the reading,writing and numeracy tests given to all students in Grades 4 and 7.
According to the press release, teachers and education experts advised the ministry to have students write theFSAs much earlier in the school year, which the ministry says will give teachers and parents an idea of student learning in key areas sooner in the school year.
Next year, the tests will be written in October and November instead of January and February.
In addition, the ministry is changing the way it releases FSA results, and will include them in what it terms as“broader school reports that look at a wide range of education outcomes.”
“Parents want to know how well their child and how well their child’s school is doing,” Bernier said. “We aregoing to make sure they get that information in a way that’s useful to them. “
To learn more about the new curriculum, visit www.curriculum.gov.bc.ca/.