In Florida, a high school diploma is not the same thing as a certificate of college readiness. In 2011 alone, more than 30,000 students learned this the hard way. After graduating from high school or receiving a G.E.D., they went on to community or state colleges in Florida and promptly failed at least one subject [...]
Teacher’s unions and critics of Florida’s various private school scholarship programs have long argued that students who received those scholarships should have to face the same scrutiny as public school students. That means taking the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test — or its upcoming successor — in order to make apples-to-apples comparisons between school performance. But [...]
Fed up with FCAT? Well now you can get a peek at the test which will replace it. The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, has released the first batch of sample questions tied to the new exams. Florida is starting the transition to the new Common Core standards and [...]
Florida education commission Gerard Robinson says a Florida School Boards Association proposal objecting to the current use of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test does a disservice to students and ignores a decade of state school improvement. Robinson spoke to state superintendents and school board members gathered at a Tampa meeting Thursday. A Florida School Boards [...]
Schools boards representing more than one out of every four Florida students have approved a resolution asking state education leaders put less emphasis on standardized tests. And the Florida School Boards Association could take up a similar resolution at a Tampa meeting tomorrow, giving the national effort another boost. A dozen Florida districts have approved [...]
The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test is a “perfectly reasonable” way to gauge students in reading, writing and math, Orlando Sentinel columnist Beth Kassab writes. But the system breaks down because of ‘FCAT frenzy’ and the anxiety school districts create with extra drills, pep rallies and other events which ratchet up the pressure on students. Nearly [...]
School districts across the state are adopting a national resolution opposing the emphasis on standardized tests. In Florida, that test is called the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. The exam has been particularly criticized this year after state officials raised standards and minimum scores — and the percentage of students passing some tests plunged as a [...]
Hernando County’s school board could take up a resolution Tuesday evening asking Gov. Rick Scott and state leaders put less emphasis on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. Palm Beach and Broward county school boards have already approved a similar resolution. Alachua, Flagler and Pinellas boards are weighing the measure. The resolution is based on one [...]
Some educators have always been skeptical of standardized testing. But in Florida, educators got another reason to question the accuracy of our test after the Florida Board of Education lowered the passing score of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test writing exam so more students would pass it. A former employee with Pearson, the company that [...]
This week we told you about former Gov. Jeb Bush’s national education role, and how many of the policies he’s taking to other states got their start in Florida thanks to a well-maintained political network. We also told you that Bush’s ideas are seeing some resistance from Floridians. Readers took to the debate. Standardized tests [...]
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