{"id":19532,"date":"2013-07-17T09:00:05","date_gmt":"2013-07-17T13:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/?p=19532"},"modified":"2013-07-17T10:25:34","modified_gmt":"2013-07-17T14:25:34","slug":"explaining-what-floridas-next-standardized-test-should-cost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2013\/07\/17\/explaining-what-floridas-next-standardized-test-should-cost\/","title":{"rendered":"Explaining What Florida&#8217;s Next Standardized Test Should Cost"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_19538\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 300px;\"><a class=\"fancybox\" title=\"Florida spends a total of $41 per student on testing each year, according to a Brookings Institution report.\" href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2013\/07\/7-17_StudentsTesting.jpg\" rel=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-19538\" alt=\"Florida spends a total of $41 per student on testing each year, according to a Brookings Institution report.\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2013\/07\/7-17_StudentsTesting-300x240.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"240\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2013\/07\/7-17_StudentsTesting-300x240.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2013\/07\/7-17_StudentsTesting.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">therogerbacon \/ Flickr<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Florida spends a total of $41 per student on testing each year, according to a Brookings Institution report.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>On Monday <a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2013\/07\/15\/explaining-floridas-choices-for-its-next-standardized-test\/\">we explained the options Florida has in choosing its next standardized test<\/a>.The new test is part of Florida&#8217;s move to shared <a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/tag\/common-core\/\">Common Core education standards<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Florida could stick with the <a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/tag\/parcc\/\">Partnership for Assessment of College and Careers &#8212; or PARCC<\/a> &#8212; one of two multi-state consortia designing tests for Common Core. Florida could also design its own test or go with a test designed by a testing company, such as the ACT Aspire.<\/p>\n<p>Education Commissioner Tony Bennett will consider <a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2013\/04\/24\/bennett-florida-not-committed-to-parcc-exam\/\">test quality, whether the test is comparable to the current Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test and whether the test has a pencil and paper option in addition to an interactive online exam<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>One other big question is cost.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Florida spends $54.3 million each year on testing. The state spends an average of $12 per student, per test, according to Florida Department of Education spokeswoman Cheryl Etters.<\/p>\n<p>PARCC will announce <a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/indiana\/2013\/07\/09\/citing-cost-concerns-oklahoma-plans-to-design-its-own-common-core-test\/\">how much the test will cost per student later this month<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But <a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2013\/07\/10\/more-states-concerned-about-cost-of-next-generation-test\/\">some states already believe they can save money<\/a> by designing their own test. Oklahoma said they will save $2 million, which is one reason why the state will not adopt PARCC.<\/p>\n<p>Kentucky was the first state to adopt the Common Core State Standards, and lawmakers there told the state Department of Education to design a new test by 2012.<\/p>\n<div class=\"related-content alignleft\"><h4 class=\"related-header\">Related<\/h4><div class=\"links\"><h5>Posts<\/h5><ul><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2013\/07\/15\/explaining-floridas-choices-for-its-next-standardized-test\/\">Explaining Florida&#8217;s Choices For Its Next Standardized Test<\/a><\/li><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2013\/07\/11\/what-two-school-districts-are-doing-to-give-more-students-a-computer\/\">What Two School Districts Are Doing To Give More Students A Computer<\/a><\/li><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2013\/07\/08\/19443\/\">Classroom Contemplations: Little Books, Big Statement<\/a><\/li><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2013\/06\/28\/common-core-opponents-expecting-protesters-from-across-the-state\/\">Common Core Opponents Expecting Protesters From Across The State<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div><div class=\"topics\"><h5>Topics<\/h5><p class=\"topic\"><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2013\/06\/jeremy-2011-117.jpg\" height=\"60\" width=\"60\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/topic\/classroom-contemplations\/\">Classroom Contemplations: Education Policies From A Teacher&#8217;s Perspective<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<p>Ken Draut, Kentucky&#8217;s Associate Commissioner of Education, said their state-designed test costs $9 million for grades 3 through 8, or $26 a student. Kentucky uses ACT exams in high school.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re kind of in the middle,&#8221; Draut said of test cost. &#8220;That&#8217;s one of the things you have to look at is, what does our state budget support? And can we build a test for what&#8217;s in the state budget?<\/p>\n<p>Last year Brookings Institute researcher Matt Chingos <a href=\"http:\/\/www.brookings.edu\/~\/media\/research\/files\/reports\/2012\/11\/29%20cost%20of%20assessment%20chingos\/11_assessment_chingos_final_new.pdf\">estimated that states spent $1.7 billion<\/a> in testing per year.<\/p>\n<p>Washington, D.C. schools spent the most per student on testing of the 45 states surveyed &#8212; $114. New York spent the least at $7 per student.<\/p>\n<p>Florida spent a total of $41 per student on testing, according to Chingos&#8217; estimates, which includes the FCAT and various college placement exams. The average state spent $27 per student on testing.<\/p>\n<p>The two testing consortia said the new exams should cost close to the national average.<\/p>\n<p>The multi-state group Florida didn&#8217;t join &#8212; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.smarterbalanced.org\/about\/\">Smarter Balanced<\/a> &#8212; said the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.edexcellence.net\/commentary\/education-gadfly-daily\/common-core-watch\/2013\/by-the-company-it-keeps-smarter-balanced.html\">test will cost $22.50 per student for its end-of-year exams<\/a>. The package will cost $27.30 per student when benchmark exams given at the beginning of the year and middle of the year are added.<\/p>\n<p>A spokesman for ACT said the company did not yet know what its Aspire test will cost.<\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;ll find out soon if PARCC will cost more.<\/p>\n<p>Florida is scheduled to start using the new exam in 2015. <a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2013\/04\/30\/a-parents-guide-to-how-new-common-core-tests-are-different-from-fcat\/\">For a peek of how things will change from FCAT, watch this video.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>A chart of Chingos&#8217; data is below, <a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/indiana\/2012\/11\/29\/how-much-we-spend-on-statewide-testing-in-indiana-nationwide\/\">thanks to StateImpact Indiana<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>[spreadsheet key=&#8221;0AosSHAkDJBqpdDNSVHBoeUNCQXUzSXpUTUdiOU5HSVE&#8221; source=&#8221;&#8221; filter=0 paginate=1 sortable=1]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Monday we explained the options Florida has in choosing its next standardized test.The new test is part of Florida&#8217;s move to shared Common Core education standards. Florida could stick with the Partnership for Assessment of College and Careers &#8212; or PARCC &#8212; one of two multi-state consortia designing tests for Common Core. Florida could [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[643,854,1006,452],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19532"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19532"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19532\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19534,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19532\/revisions\/19534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}