Staff provide update on student assessments and achievement in Surrey Schools

Literacy rates among Grade 10 students in Surrey have been consistently above the provincial average for the past four school years, according to assessments that were presented on at the Jan. 17 public board meeting.

Proficiency rates in literacy and numeracy remain consistent or above provincial averages, according to data from a recent staff presentation on student achievement to the Surrey Board of Education.

At the Jan. 17 public board meeting, Priority Practices Director of Instruction Kathy Puharich shared the results of districtwide, provincial and international student assessments that measure how well students can apply literacy and numeracy skills into real-world situations. These included the Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA) for Grade 4 and 7 students, Graduation Assessments for Grade 10 and 12 students, and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), a triennial evaluation that analyzes 15-year-old students’ abilities in math, science and reading.

For FSAs, the district saw an unprecedented participation rate of 79% for the 2023-24 school year, a 35% jump from 44% the previous year. With 9,246 students participating, Assistant Superintendent Christy Northway attributed the increase to the shared dedication of principals, vice-principals, and educators who worked collaboratively to inform parents about the importance of these assessments.

“It started with acknowledging that we needed to see a shift in participation,” she said. “Once we identified it as a focus, then communication really became the key, and the communication was largely helping parents and families to understand what FSAs were, what they weren’t, and how they would be used within our district.”

The FSAs, Graduation Assessments and PISAs each highlighted positive rates of literacy in their respective grade and age categories, but also mixed rates of numeracy skills.

The 2022-23 Graduation Assessments found that 77% of Grade 10 students are proficient or extending in literacy, a 3% increase since 2020-21 and a few points above the provincial average. But for numeracy, only 47% are considered proficient or extending, though still slightly above provincial rates and an increase from years prior.

“Although the results are low across the province, in the last two years, Surrey’s results have been slightly above the provincial average,” said Puharich. “More significantly, since 2018-19 when this assessment was first introduced, the percentage of students demonstrating proficiency in numeracy has increased by 14%.

“The trend we are seeing, such as the decline in the application of numeracy skills, is one that has been documented in many countries across the globe.”

The PISA test scores, which last evaluated 690,000 15-year-old students from 81 countries in 2022, noted an unprecedented global decline, with 25% of students in OECD countries estimated to be low performers in math, reading and science. However, Canadian students remain above the OECD average and among the top 10 performers in all three subjects.

“We recognize that there is a trend when it comes to numeracy that isn’t necessarily trending in the direction we would like,” said Supt. Mark Pearmain. “We also know that we have schools that are doing incredibly well when it comes to their numeracy results, and this actually gives us an opportunity from a district perspective to be able to go to those schools, learn from those schools and share that learning with schools that may not have the same level of results.”

Trustee Gary Tymoschuk applauded the district’s literacy efforts and expressed a hope to encourage student achievement with numeracy in similar fashion.

“I think there’s a commendation to extend in terms of the literacy side, I see some really positive numbers there, not only within our district but compared to the province,” he said. “On the numeracy side though, speaking as a numbers guy, it’s unfortunate. It’s not just here in our district but provincewide and worldwide, it seems to be this lack of similar results to the literacy side.”

Trustee Bob Holmes praised staff for the sharp increase in FSA participation in the district and the effectiveness of explaining the importance of their use to parents.

“I’m so impressed by the uptake now, it’s not just over the last couple of years but over pre-COVID numbers,” he said. That’s really dramatic and I’m very impressed. It’s a great trend and I’m really happy to see it.”