The FCAT is the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. The writing section scores came out last week. The scores were shockingly low on this new version. The state lowered the requirements quickly, but not before it turned out that only about 30% would have passed otherwise.
The Orlando Sentinel pointed out just how high stakes this test has become.
Too much is riding on testing data that cannot be trusted
The Sentinel points out that student promotion, graduation, the evaluation of teachers and administrators, the letter grade assigned to schools--are all dependent on this test.
The company, NCS Pearson, that develops the test is able to do so secretly and without much oversight. Many honors students in advanced classes have been assigned to remedial reading classes if they failed it. That's a lot of power for one company to have.
More from the Sentinel:
With the recent release of the FCAT writing scores, we begin what looks to be one of the most turbulent times for our public schools and for the education profession.
Last week, the Florida Department of Education sent notice to districts that our students' performance on a new FCAT writing test was significantly poorer than last year. In fact, last year 81 percent of students passed the FCAT writing and fewer than 30 percent passed this year.
..."Sure, the state board can change the passing score for students, but teachers and administrators are going to be judged using a complicated formula that is based on how much their students grow, not on how many pass the test.
..."With test data we cannot trust, a system that does not evaluate teachers based on what each teacher teaches and a complicated model that is not based on sound research, we are not only jeopardizing our teachers and administrators; we are also jeopardizing our whole public-school system, including our students.
The Tampa Bay Times, previously the St. Pete Times, says it time for it to be over.
Time to ring the bell on FCAT
Children are crying, parents are obsessing, and educators are sweating.
Forgive me if I'm reading too much into this, but is it possible we've let standardized testing get out of control?
Because what we witnessed in recent days did not look like education. It looked like big shots covering their butts while ordinary folks screamed "I told you so." It looked like policymakers justifying something that should be above the need for justification.
It looked like politicians playing with people's lives.
Amen to all that.
Earlier this month the Miami Herald pointed out that the same company has the contract for the EOC (End of Course) exams that will come out in 2014. They are getting very wealthy off Florida's students, parents, and teachers.
Who’s accountable for the FCAT tests?
The state of Florida is paying the testing company NCS Pearson $250 million to administer and score the FCAT through the end of 2013. That amount could buy a lot. But in the case of Pearson contracts, Florida seems to be getting ripped off.
Students can be retained in third grade if they don’t pass their FCAT. They will be denied high school graduation if they don’t pass their FCAT. For the first time ever, 50 percent of teachers’ evaluations will be based on student FCAT scores. Two out of three negative (or two negative in a row) mean the unemployment line. As of 2014, the scores will also determine pay. Schools will, as always, be assigned a letter grade based on student FCAT performance — only now the test is harder and the proficiency scores are higher, meaning hundreds of schools in Miami-Dade County alone expect to drop as much as two letter grades.
The state's solution to the testing problem? More testing. Much more.
SB 736 mandates a standardized test for every subject taught by every school in the state by 2014.
These are the infamous new “end-of-course exams,” better known as EOCs, and NCS Pearson has the lucrative contract.
Accountability in Florida has mostly been for public school teachers. Lowering the requirement for the students this year won't help the teachers.
I am seeing really for the first time that parents are truly becoming aware and perhaps scared of what is being done to public education.