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No More FCAT for Some High School Classes

August 5, 2010 - School starts for some Central Florida kids on August 16th. You may not know it, but in some subjects, Florida's high-stakes standardized test is going away. Starting this year, new statewide exams called "end of course" tests take the place of the 9th grade math FCAT. They will soon replace all high school FCATs for math, science and U.S. history. School officials are preparing for the change and they're confident the transition will be smooth. However, some parents and teachers want more details.

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The Parsons family relaxes on a summer evening

 

It’s a typical summer evening at the Parsons family home in Heathrow in Seminole County. Fourteen-year-old Stephen Parsons is in the rec room playing video games with younger sister Sarah and the family’s French exchange student, Ben. Not one of them is thinking about the upcoming school year. However, Stephen’s mom Christine Parsons is wondering about the new "end of course" Algebra test that Stephen faces this year.

"How many questions is it going to be, and what types of questions?" muses Christine. "Is it going to be easy? Is it going to be hard? Is it middle of the road?"

This year’s Algebra One students will be the first to take a standardized "end of course" test instead of the 9th grade math FCAT. Then next year, a geometry "end of course" test replaces the 10th grade math FCAT…but that’s about all Christine’s heard. She asks Stephen if his 8th grade teacher told him anything more before the end of last year.

"He said there was gonna be a lot of changes with the FCAT and stuff," Stephen responds.

"So, there were just going to be changes but he didn’t tell you what they were gonna be?" asks Christine.

"Yeah."

The Florida Legislature’s bill replacing some FCATs with "end of course" tests went into effect July 1st. That’s the beginning of the state’s fiscal year, but it’s a difficult time to communicate with parents, students and teachers as everyone scatters for the summer. Kris Ellington with the state Department of Education says it’ll be easier to share information on the new tests once the school year gets underway. She says students can expect the "end of course" tests to be more focused than the FCAT.

"The test will be similar in the types of items, except that it will be addressing exactly the course content that a student is taking," explains Ellington. That’s different from the FCAT, which covers a broader array of topics.

Another big difference is that the new tests will be part of a student’s grade for an individual course. The FCAT was required to graduate, but it didn’t show up on a student’s report card.

It will take two years to completely phase in each "end of course" test.

Here’s how it will work. For the 2010-2011 school year, the Algebra "end of course" test will count as 30% of the students’ course grade. Starting the following school year, 2011-2012, the test will determine if a student passes or fails the course.

Also in 2011-2012, the Geometry and Biology "end of course" test will be given for the first time, and they’ll count as 30% of the students’ course grade. Then the following year, 2012-2013, the Geometry and Biology "end of course" tests will determine if a student passes or fails those courses. And so on.

The pass/fail nature of these tests disturbs Seminole County mom Christine. She says all that emphasis on a single test on a single day is just too much.

"Do you know how much anxiety some of these kids are going to have, knowing that they only have this one shot to pass this class, and in 9th grade, that’s going to affect their transcripts?" she asks.

That’s similar to the criticism leveled against the FCAT when it was first introduced. FCAT opponents argued that a one-day, one-size-fits-all test shouldn’t carry so much weight. They maintained that a statewide, standardized exam couldn’t adequately measure individual achievement, or assess a student’s grasp on concepts like critical thinking or interpersonal skills. Mark Pudlow with the state teachers’ union says these concerns aren’t addressed with the new "end of course" tests.

"We don’t have any specific opposition to shifting from FCAT to ‘end of course’ exams. There are some advantages to it," Pudlow points out. "But, it still maintains the culture of extreme testing which we have real problems with."

Plus, there’s a lot of uncertainty about how exactly the "end of course" tests will work. For example, it’s clear that students must pass the test to pass the course, but it’s not clear what happens if they fail. The plan is to give the tests just once a year, so students may have to wait a whole year for a retake.

If a student needs more than one retake, that wait might delay graduation.

Pudlow wishes schools had more time to hash out the details. "It’s a grand experiment that’s being done on our students, and we cross our fingers and hope that it’ll work out," he says.

Pudlow’s frustration is tempered by the new test’s advantages, he says. For one thing, they’ll be taken at the end of the school year, unlike the FCAT, which is given in March or April. That will give teachers more time to prepare their students. He also agrees with Kris Ellington of the Department of Education, who points out that teachers will get to focus on their specific subjects all year, instead of shifting gears halfway through to teach the FCAT, like they do now.

"Even if the child is in an Algebra class, they have to teach other content to prepare them for the Grade 10 [FCAT] mathematics test," explains Ellington. "But the ‘end of course’ test will be addressing exactly the course content."

The downside to that, notes Pudlow, is some teachers may feel that the state is micromanaging the way they teach their subjects. He says with a standardized state test, a teacher is unable slow down and spend extra time on a certain chapter or concept if a class is struggling. That’s because the teacher doesn’t control what’s on the final test.

Back in Seminole County, 9th grade Stephen echoes Pudlow’s concern. He says his classes often don’t make it all the way through a textbook. "Right before we’re about to take our final exams, we look in our book and there’s always one or two more chapters…that we haven’t even heard about, so we don’t know what that stuff’s about. And there’s not enough time to teach it."

However, officials from Stephen’s school district say they aren’t worried. They say Seminole County schools are already teaching the state standards that’ll be covered on the new tests.

Orange County school officials say they aren’t expecting any major curriculum changes, either. They’ve just had their first round of meetings with teachers, and are planning more.

Stephen’s mom Christine remains concerned about the unknowns as she prepares her four kids for a new school year. But in the end, she says, she’s the one setting the bar for her family’s education.

"For my kids, it’s my standards that they have to live up to, not the school system’s standards. And mine are pretty high," she adds with a smile. "Mine are higher than the school system’s."

Algebra One students will take the first "end of course" tests in May of next year.

 

 

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