{"id":6565,"date":"2012-04-20T14:41:02","date_gmt":"2012-04-20T18:41:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/?p=6565"},"modified":"2012-04-23T06:53:42","modified_gmt":"2012-04-23T10:53:42","slug":"inside-fcat-2-0-what-changes-mean-for-teachers-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2012\/04\/20\/inside-fcat-2-0-what-changes-mean-for-teachers-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside FCAT 2.0: What Changes Mean for Teachers, Students"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sarah Gonzalez \/ StateImpact Florida<\/p>

At Booker T. Washington High School, students likes Danna Contreras, took turns taking the online FCAT reading test because there aren't enough computers for sophomores to take the test at the same time.<\/p><\/div>\n

Danna Contreras doesn\u2019t like the new FCAT.<\/p>\n

The sophomore at Booker T. Washington High School in Miami emigrated from Colombia three years ago.<\/p>\n

She wears thick, pink-rimmed glasses and she squints a lot. She says the new computerized version is harder to take.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I am better with paper, not on the computer because sometimes my eyes hurt,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not the only reason she’s worried about her reading score.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have difficulty speaking English and the vocabulary is really hard,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Students are taking a new, harder version of the FCAT this year, called FCAT 2.0.<\/p>\n

The test is supposed to be harder to pass and the stakes are higher than ever.<\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n

From now on, FCAT results will help determine whether teachers keep their jobs.<\/p>\n

Contreras is an honors student. But she says her performance in class doesn\u2019t matter anymore.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause you can be an A student the whole year, but if you don\u2019t pass the FCAT they make you take easy classes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

FCAT results determine whether students go into remedial courses, called \u201cintensives,\u201d or honors classes.<\/p>\n

She says it seems like flawed logic.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo everybody they give the same test. And I think if they give you more easy classes they don\u2019t want you to expand your mind,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

More Students Are Expected to Fail<\/strong><\/p>\n

More students are expected to fail the FCAT this year<\/a> because Florida has raised its academic standards.<\/p>\n

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Sarah Gonzalez \/ StateImpact Florida<\/p>

Students at Jose de Diego Middle School in Miami says the new FCAT didn't seem like a harder test. They said it was just boring.<\/p><\/div>\n

Sharon Koon with the Florida Department of Education says the FCAT 2.0 requires students to remember more material they learned in earlier grades.<\/p>\n

For example, if the math concepts mean, median and mode are taught in 6th grade, Koon says, \u201cWe would expect that students are able to solve problems related to those concepts in 7th grade without formulas being given.\u201d<\/p>\n

The FCAT was first introduced in 1997 to academic standards created in 1996.<\/p>\n

Florida has just updated its standards — now called the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd every time you adopt new standards you do have to change your assessments,\u201d Koon said.<\/p>\n

The contractor Pearson is being paid $254 million over four years to develop and administer the new\u00a0FCAT.<\/p>\n

The new test isn\u2019t just important to students. Starting now, FCAT results will help determine whether teachers keep their jobs.<\/p>\n

Jennifer Smith is a French teacher at Hialeah High School in Miami-Dade County.<\/p>\n

Fifty percent of her evaluation will be based on the school\u2019s FCAT score in reading.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I’m a French teacher, not an English teacher or a reading teacher,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Smith says most teachers will have half their score come from FCAT subjects they have no influence over<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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