The Collapse of Student Testing in BC High Schools: Participation rates plummet as student achievement wanes

Summary

• Standardized testing in the education system is a tool critical for the fair and objective measurement of student academic performance. British Columbia has historically led the country in standardized testing, but recent and significant changes have dismantled BC’s province-wide high school testing regime.
• Participation in BC’s student assessments is considered mandatory for graduation, yet student participation in those assessments has dropped even as BC’s graduation rate has increased.
• In recent years, government public schools have seen sharper drops in student test-writing than have independent schools.
• In 2021/22, participation in BC’s grade 10 literacy assessment among both public and independent schools was 17.1 percentage points lower compared to the 2015/16 grade 10 English exams.
• In 2021/22, participation in BC’s grade 10 numeracy assessment was 22.3 percentage points lower than the grade 10 math exams of 2015/16.
• In 2021/22, participation in BC’s grade 12 literacy assessment was 14.2 percentage points lower than the grade 12 English exams of 2015/16.
• In 2021/22, proficiency on BC’s grade 10 literacy assessment was 4.1 percentage points lower than on the 2015/16 exams. About three-quarters of grade 10 students were proficient in literacy in 2021/22.
• In 2015/16, six in 10 of BC’s grade 10 students were proficient in math. By 2021/22, less than half of BC’s grade 10 students were proficient in numeracy.
• In 2015/16, proficiency on BC’s grade 12 literacy assessment was 2.0 percentage points higher than the grade 12 English exams of 2015/16. Eight in ten grade 12 students are now proficient in literacy.