Language Boss Urges Standard French Fluency Tests For Students

The federal government is also trying to double the number of bilingual high-school graduates by 2013 and Fraser said a national assessment system, perhaps involving several levels of attainment, would help motivate students. "The idea of having a universal standard, Canada-wide, in which students, parents, teachers and schools could know what level they are achieving would be a useful thing," Fraser said in an interview. Most provinces have no standardized way of measuring students of French immersion and core French, other than routine classroom tests administered by the teacher. Several provinces also have periodic provincial achievement tests, but French is not normally included. After years of lobbying by second-language teachers, the Council of Ministers of Education, which is the national voice of education departments, is starting to weigh the pros and cons of a standardized French assessment. ... http://www.canada.com/topics/news/politics/story.html?id=1536e00c-0735-4ab8-a883-f68667f8fa92

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