Many, such as Maldebot, wrote to say their children were discouraged.
What can I do ? My daughter is very upset and feels like dropping out of 10th grade beause she was short 3 points in the Reading exam in FCAT..Help ! This takes the motivation out of kids
WUSF reporter -- and future teacher -- Yoselis Ramos.
Editor’s Note: This is a first-person story from WUSF reporter Yoselis Ramos, who is studying to become a teacher. She recently hopped a bus with other teachers to attend a Jacksonville town hall meeting.
Along the way she spoke with her fellow travelers about what its like to lead a classroom.
You can watch “American Graduate: Teacher Town Hall” tonight at 9 on WUSF TV.
I was hoping the trip would give me insight into what it’s really like to stand up in front of a class and teach. I’m only a sophomore in college- I still have time to change my mind. I wanted to make sure this is what I want to do.
So I boarded a charter bus with 30 Tampa-area teachers.
It wasn’t long before I was hearing about their frustrations — such as spending the last two hours each evening grading papers. And it sure wasn’t hard to keep the teachers talking.
More than 36,000 Florida third graders failed the new, tougher version of the FCAT reading exam - called the FCAT 2.0. The Florida Department of Education estimates less than 10,000 third graders will have to repeat the third grade.
More third graders failed the state’s FCAT reading exam than last year — as state education officials warned.
A total of 36,577 third graders — or about 18% of all third grade test takers in the state — failed the FCAT 2.0 reading exam, which is a new, tougher version of the FCAT.
The year before, 32,429 third graders — or 16% of all third grade test takers in the state — failed the easier FCAT reading exam.
Failing the FCAT reading exam as a third grader means students may have to repeat the third grade.
But Education Commission Gerard Robinson says not all of the students who failed the exam will be held back.
Historically, Robinson says the number of students who are retained will drop “from double digit to single digit,” Robinson said.
Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney outlines his education plan Wednesday.
Presumed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney rolled out his education plan Wednesday in Washington, D.C.: More school choice options; reward high-performing charter schools and help them expand; require easy-to-read school report cards.
And if Romney’s influences were still a bit cloudy, he made them explicit in his speech to the Latino Coalition.
“And leadership makes a huge difference,” Romney told the group. “When Jeb Bush became governor of Florida, reading scores of Hispanic students in that state’s school system were dismal. He brought focused innovation and passionate leadership. Today those scores have risen dramatically.
But it isn’t hidden in Florida, which is one of a handful of states which tracks chronic absenteeism. Florida considers students who miss 21 or more days of schools as chronically absent.
Rural school districts tend to have higher rates of chronic absenteeism than urban district.
But Pinellas County is an exception. Nearly 18 percent of students in a school district of more than 125,000 students missed 21 or more days of school.
Those days stack up quick, according to Florida Department of Education data. Pinellas County students missed at least 467,586 days last year — or the equivalent of nearly 2,600 school years total.
A new report details the cost of missing school. Florida is one of six states which tracks chronic absenteeism.
As many as 15 million students are missing at least one in 10 days of school every year, reducing their chance of graduating from high school or college.
At a weekend education conference in Philadelphia, GetSchooled and other experts cited three main reasons for chronic absenteeism:
Lack of awareness — Many parents don’t realize that missing two days of school a month can add up to a lot of lost time. In addition, some parents of kindergarteners and first graders don’t realize that their kids need to be in school every day.
Florida Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson had some explaining to do. Under new standards set forth in FCAT 2.0, about half of Florida’s 9th and 10th graders failed the reading portion of the annual assessment test.
In a teleconference with reporters, Robinson said the unspectacular scores are not surprising since standards are being raised. More is being expected of students as they transition into full implementation of national Common Core State Standards within a few years. “We were very clear that there would be a downtrend in the percentage of students who passed,” said Robinson.
50 percent of students in grade 10 received passing scores performing at or above Achievement Level 3 on FCAT 2.0 Reading (a decline from 60 percent in 2011 when the passing score was set within Achievement level 2).
81 percent of students in grade 4 earned a score of 3.0 and above on FCAT Writing, compared to 78 percent in grade 8, and 84 percent in grade 10.
Here are some highlights from FCAT 2.0 Reading results for grades 9 and 10:
In 2012, 52 percent of students were performing at or above Achievement Level 3 (Satisfactory).
In 2012, 47 percent of Hispanic students were performing at or above Achievement Level 3.
In 2012, 29 percent of students were performing at or above Achievement Level 4.
FCAT 2.0 is based on tougher standards in testing and grading. The test is more rigorous as the state transitions into the more demanding Common Core State Standards in 2015.
“We are asking more from our students and teachers than we ever have, and I am proud of their hard work,” said Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson. “Florida’s higher standards help ensure students are learning what they are expected to know so that they are prepared for college, career, and life. As Florida transitions to higher standards and higher expectations, we can expect our assessment results to reflect those changes.”
Robinson will share more information about the scores later today.
Students misspell words during a spelling test. 5. Adventure. 6. Mystery. 7. Skunk
When students started being graded on spelling, grammar and vocabulary this year, most students failed the state’s standardized writing exam.
The Florida Board of Education lowered the passing score during an emergency meeting so more students would pass.
But a veteran English teacher in Florida says this is a sign students aren’t being taught the basics.
Joanne Miles teaches advanced placement English at Nova High School in Davie.
She’s been in the classroom for 31 years and says teachers mostly focus on teaching subjects the FCAT tests. Continue Reading →
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