Half of Grade 10 B.C. Students Failing to Meet Provincial Math Standards

One of every two Grade 10 public school students in B.C. failed to meet proficiency standards in math during the 2021/22 school year, according to a new report. Proficiency isn’t the only element to decline, however. Participation rates in the province-wide assessments have also “declined significantly,” said the report from the Fraser Institute. Only 77.7 percent of students participated in the testing in the 2021/2022 school year and of those who took the test, just 48.2 percent met the provincial standard. That compares to 100 percent participation in the 2015/2016 school year with a 62.4 percent success rate in meeting the provincial standard. “Historically, B.C. led the country in standardized testing, but major changes have essentially dismantled province-wide testing for high school students, and unfortunately, student achievement has declined,” Fraser Institute associate director of education policy Paige MacPherson said in a press release....