And in Pinellas, they take three. For the first time, state education officials have seen a strong backlash against its signature test, and they have been forced to wage a public relations campaign to defend it. Rather than quiet the din, the result has been an intense debate about testing and a growing chorus of voices against the widespread use of FCAT. Sal Bologna, a Pasco County grandfather of a fourth-grader, said he likes that the state has an annual test to track student performance.
But he worries about the stress it puts on children. If they don't do well in summer school, they get left back," Bologna said. Florida has a lot to show after more than a decade of ramping up standards and increasing the number of tests students take. Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Graduation rates have climbed steadily. More students take advanced placement exams, and passing rates have risen.
Until recently, Florida students posted some of the biggest gains in the country on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, called the "nation's report card. The state was the first in the nation to require a test for high school graduation in During that decade, it introduced testing for third, fifth, eighth and 11th grades.
Two decades later, officials decided that minimum standards weren't good enough. Jeb Bush was elected. Schools became rated A to F. The spotlight suddenly focused on two grades: third and 10th, both with major testing hurdles for students.
Teachers and principals — entire schools — started to analyze student data more than ever. Students and parents learned about data. Predicting how a child would fare on the FCAT became a normal part of the parent-teacher conference. Many teachers and school leaders say such widespread use of testing is having unintended consequences. It will be sent home with student score reports. StateImpact seeks to inform and engage local communities with broadcast and online news focused on how state government decisions affect your lives.
Learn More ». Learning Stories about students and the initiatives designed to improve performance. Are the many education reforms Florida has adopted working? Merit pay; eliminating tenure; new teacher evaluations -- how are school, district and state policies affecting how educators and their students perform?
Print article. For the past 20 years, Florida has been one of the leaders among the 50 states in the standards and accountability movement. In grades 4, 8 and 10 students take a writing test which consists of an essay and multiple choice questions. A reading and mathematics test is given in grades 3 through In grades 5, 8 and 11 students take a science test. The FCAT includes multiple-choice, gridded-response fill in the blanks and performance tasks such as essays.
The multiple-choice and gridded-response questions are machine scored. Each performance task test is scored by two trained readers. It is given early so that scores can be returned before the end of the school year. There are several types of scores for the FCAT. For reading, math and science, mean scores are reported on a scale of to , with being the highest score.
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