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1080 Winslow Avenue, Coquitlam, BC, V3J 0M6| Phone: 604-939-9201| Contact Us
School District No. 43 (Coquitlam)
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FSA Information for Parents and Guardians

September 23, 2019

​School District No. 43 (Coquitlam) will be conducting the Foundation Skills Assessment in October, in accordance with the School Act. 

The Foundation Skills Assessment measures literacy and numeracy skills set out in provincial curricula and is only one source of the data that teachers and the district use to establish comprehensive evidence of student achievement in the Coquitlam School District. The curriculum has changed and so has the FSA. 

The FSA continues to: 
  • ​assess reading, writing and numeracy
  • contain both written and on-line components​
It has changed in several ways, including: 
  • beginning with a classroom collaboration activity which helps students choose between two reading themes
  • an updated on-line portion which includes clicking and dragging, highlighting, selecting from a drop-down menu or entering a numerical response
  • two self-reflection components, one at the end of the booklet and one at the end of the on-line portion.​
The Foundation Skills assessment does NOT measure any outcomes from the Grades 4 or 7 curriculum. It is a cumulative review of outcomes taught in K - 3 or K - 6. The earlier administration date is designed to get preliminary results back to the schools much earlier in the year, so that they can be used as another tool to guide instruction. 

As a provincially prescribed assessment, all Grade 4 and Grade 7 students are expected to participate in the FSA. There are specific exemptions identified by the Ministry regarding students who have previously written the FSAs at that grade level, some students with IEPs and some students receiving EAL support. 

A parent/guardian wishing to request that a student be excused from participating in the 2019 FSA can do so under the following exemptions as set out by the Ministry of Education: 
  • Family emergency
  • Illness
  • Extenuating circumstances
Please contact your Principal should you need to discuss this information as it pertains to your Grade 4 or Grade 7 child. 

For more information on FSA, click here​.


School District No. 43 (Coquitlam)

1080 Winslow Avenue, Coquitlam BC
V3J 0M6
604-939-9201 604-939-7828