FCAT A Requirement?
What if I were to tell you that you had to take a test to determine whether you keep your job or if you can graduate from college even though you have the right grades? As adults, we would think that this was a crazy scenario and wouldn't accept those conditions by any means. But children in our public schools here in Florida have to go through the FACT tests from elementary school all the way through high school and this determines if they can graduate.
Students are under a tremendous amount of pressure during these test days and if they don't pass they aren't allowed to advance to the next grade. Even though they are given the chance to retake these tests, I believe that this is unjust simply because a test shouldn't determine if your child is capable of moving on to the next grade. The FCAT tests a wide range of subjects including Math, Reading, Writing and Science. Students are required to score at least a 300 in these subject areas to pass, but the state average of students meeting the required score for sophomores in reading is only 38% and math 69%. This means that over half of our students are failing the reading portion of the test and they must do retakes before they can graduate. Even though students may have an "A" average throughout the year, there are no exemptions for this test and everyone must take it. So now this student with an "A" average has a bad day and scores below the required level and is not allowed to graduate until the score is met. While students are allowed to retake the test up to six times, this is a lot of extra stress on the students and not to mention more tax dollars being spent by all the taxpayers throughout the state. So now our students are not only required to take enough high school credits and maintain the required G.P.A. but they also have to score high enough in all the required areas of the test. The teachers and school boards throughout the state claim that they do everything in their power to prepare the students for this test, while this may be true, at times they are more worried about teaching ways to pass the test than they are teaching the material that the students actually need. This takes away from what our children should be learning just so they can pass a test. Schools want to make sure their students do well because the higher a school scores on the FCAT, the more money the school then receives the next year for funding.
Now I'm not saying that I think we should get rid of the FCAT completely, I just think that it should be used as an assessment rather than a graduation requirement. Anytime time you study and prep a whole year for one test, students are going to be so nervous and edgy that they are not going to be able to truly show what they have learned throughout the year.
WKoF initiative: World Class Schools
CIVIC Concern | | 
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What are the biggest challenges facing Florida's education system? And what ideas do you have for improving Florida's schools?
Share your thoughts here as we kick off "What Kind of Florida Do You Want to Live In?", our ground-breaking, two-year initiative that will mobilize citizens from around the state to come together in shaping policy proposals that can make a real difference in the lives of Floridians. To learn more, visit the What Kind of Florida? homepage.
Education, Schools, FCAT reform, What Kind of Florida initiative (all tags)
Poll: FCAT Reform
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Where do you stand on accountability reform, especially reducing the importance of the FCAT? Take our poll, then visit this post to discuss the issue in more depth.
Reducing the Role of the FCAT
CIVIC Concern | | 0
Since completing comprehensive expert reports on the impact of the FCAT and the A Plus plan in 2004 and 2007, CIVIC has advocated for an overhaul of the state's accountability system.
In 2006 and 2007, legislation based on CIVIC research was developed and filed by members of the State House and Senate, but those bills failed to pass. This year, State Senator Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, chair of the Senate's Pre-K-12 Education Committee, has filed a bill that would add a number of other factors to the high school grading equation, reducing the importance of the FCAT for high schools.
While more comprehensive change is needed, this bill is a good beginning. The fact that it was filed by a committee chair signals that legislative leaders are finally willing to consider changes in the accountability system.
For more information, read the full article here.
What changes do you believe need to be made to the accountability system? Should the emphasis on the FCAT be reduced, or should the test be scrapped altogether? Or do you believe the system is working effectively and doesn't need reform?