Make the FCAT harder?

That's what Florida should consider doing to make sure its high school graduates are better prepared for college, says a report released today by the Legislature's well-respected research arm.

The Office of Program Policy Analysis & Government Accountability actually made that recommendation back in 2006, when it reported that a whopping 78 percent of Florida community college students need remedial classes. But OPPAGA repeated it today because, it said, the Department of Education has yet to re-examine passing scores on the 10th grade FCAT - the one students must pass to earn a standard diploma.

"While scoring the minimum Level 2 on the FCAT helps ensure that students have mastered basic academic concepts, it does not ensure students are prepared for college level work," the report said.

(But wait. Don't FCAT critics say the 10th grade test is too hard? This year, 38 percent passed the reading portion. Wouldn't upping the cut-off score mean fewer kids graduating?)

In another recommendation, OPPAGA said state officials should beef up accountability for remediation programs at community colleges. A 2007 report found only 52 percent of students needing remediation finish those programs.

- Ron Matus, state education reporter

Comments

[Cathy]

I can't believe that they are planning on making the FCAT harder. It does NOT show what a child actually knows. I am an educator and I personally have seen straight A honor students fail the 10th grade FCAT. On the other hand, I have seen students who do not know basic skills pass the FCAT with flying colors. Something is definitely wrong when the state feels that a 45 minute test tells us if a child is smart and that they should get a diploma. On the day of the test a student may be feeling ill, had a fight that morning with his/her parent, woke up in a homeless shelter or is having an anxiety attack because of all the pressure of the test. I wish that they would look at the WHOLE picture, not just one day in March which decides if the student graduates.

[Diane]

Will we be seeing a dumbing down cycle as districts must up graduation rates by lowering the bar? Do we want to continue to create dropouts by PRETENDING everyone is college material? Why not increase the diversity of diploma options and let each individual graduate via successful participation in the program that suits them? WHY is a false belief that everyone can be average permeating our decisions? Where is the proof? There is none, and yet the fantasy lives on.

[Diane]

Will we be seeing a dumbing down cycle as districts must up graduation rates by lowering the bar? Do we want to continue to create dropouts by PRETENDING everyone is college material? Why not increase the diversity of diploma options and let each individual graduate via successful participation in the program that suits them? WHY is a false belief that everyone can be average permeating our decisions? Where is the proof? There is none, and yet the fantasy lives on.

[Minnie]

The purpose that once was once provided on the use of the FCAT was for K-12 accountability measures and to ensure that students were meeting state requirements. The test has nothing to do with whether students are college bound or are unable to enter college without taking prep courses. The curriculum can be rigorous must be relevant. Students are taught the same things over and over again and they are bored.
There is no reason why Reading has to be taught for 90+ minutes and in isolation! This is absurd! Studies have shown that the students aren't doing any better under the new Reading mandates! School districts must push back and say no we won't continue to fail our students. Teach using the methods that we have seen work and get back to research based methods that have validity not just to pass a test!

[BBMOM]

"justathought"

Exactly the point!!!!!!!! You can't make a child , or anyone else, learn if they are not willing to. Just like making the horse drink after leading him to water. It is up to the parents and the child to learn what is taught to them. Forget about school grades, testing teachers and the FCAT. Those of us who didn't have the FCAT seem to be doing just fine. Of course those of us who wanted to learn.

[justathought]

I have a problem with my weight. My doctor warns me of the consequences of not losing weight, provides me with the tools to lose it - medication, diet, nutritional and psychological counseling - and yet I am still overweight, and I know it is because I don't or won't consistently do what my doctor tells me. Is this my fault or the fault of my doctor? I am a teacher. I spend time planning great lessons, always look for creative ways to deliver the information my students need to know, assign homework, etc, etc. I do all the things that good teachers naturally do. Yet I still have students who will not read assignments, who will not do or turn in homework, and who sit in class day after day doing little, if anything, to acquire knowledge. Is this my fault? If it's not my doctor's fault that I won't do what he says, then how can the district and the public continually say
the teachers are at fault for their students failure to learn. Of course, I realize there are bad teachers just as there are bad doctors, but one cannot blame the obesity problem of this nation on the medical profession and one should not continue to lay the blame for our students' unwillingness to do what is asked of them on the shoulders of the teaching profession. The FCAT will never fix the problem of a student's lack of desire to do the work that learning requires.

[Mencken Jr]

If you really want the FCAT to grade teachers, you need to give it twice - once when a student enters a school, and once when that student leaves a school. Compute the following number:

%Change = 100*(FCAT_end - FCAT_start) / FCAT_start

and grade schools and teachers based on the % improvement (or decline). It's fair, it's unambiguous, and it doesn't need a lot of interpretation.

Test taking results do not mean much. The results only allow a devious person to exploit the test-taker. I laugh, when I hear "certified-fluent" types overseas speaking the local native tongue making an a** of themselves.

[Mother of former school age children]

Should the FCAT get harder? Only if you're actually going to grade to teachers. The FCAT was initially supposed to grade how well the teachers were teaching our kids. Its amazing to me that people have forgotten that. Instead, more pressure is applied to our children and less to the people we entrust them to daily. Puhlease People. Somebody pay attention!

[Milton]

To the teacher who says she teaches to the test; please leave the profession.

[joe]

Get rid of it. It's graded on a curve, anyway. Teachers are wasting our childrens time in school, just teaching the test.
Besides, when schools fail two years in a roll, nothing happens. The school should be shut down and the admin staff fired.

[Joseph]

One more thing to consider: Learning is hierarchal (i.e., stratified by sophistication) ranging from basic knowledge to an advanced ability to synthesize information. The FCAT is a closed-ended, fixed question instrument that can only measure the lowest levels of learning. So, when children fail the FCAT, they are really failing to demonstrate proficiency in basic knowledge, which basically means definitions and identification of important concepts.

[rimbaud1poet]

The latest research says that teachers should teach to the standards--not to the test. As parents, please encourage your child's teacher and school to teach the standards--not the test. We need to create a community of learners that can read, comprehend and critically think. These are skills all kids need, whether they are college bound or not.
These are all things the FCAT tests, and all things the standards provide. If teachers will teach the standards, ensure that the kids learn them, and can use them, then the FCAT or any other standardized test that comes their way becomes a non-issue.
As a teacher, it's become apparent to me that it's unrealistic to expect FCAT to go away forever--but with the right pressure placed on our politicians, surely teacher assessment can find it's way back to the classroom, and in conjunction with FCAT, give us a decent assessment of the levels in which our students are performing.

[Melissa]

If we tracked kids into appropriate high school prep programs like vocational/career areas, and the college bound kids were tracked together, you could have seperate tests that reflected the academic goals of the student, as appropriate to their post high school plans.

[Shannon]

Not all students are college bound. Florida has a difficult time grasping this. We already have a high dropout rate because we offer minimal job training and voc programs. Great idea---make the FCAT harder. Then even MORE will dropout, unprepared to be a productive member of society.

[Joseph]

With one qualification - HELL YES!

We should track the high school students into two groups: (1) Vocational/Community College bound and (2) University bound.

Diplomas should reflect with track the student completed.

The FCAT should be adjusted to meet the purpose of these two tracks; that is, the FCAT should reflect career training for group 1 and academic rigor for group 2.

I teach at a four-year university, and if you were able to see first hand the lack of adequate preparation among the freshman students in my classes, you would fully understand my position on this.

A recent study reported in The Chronicle for Higher Educated revealed that approximately 13 percent of all high school graduates are adequately prepared for first year college academics.

[Bill]

It's funny, graduation rates were not a problem when I went to school.......BEFORE THE FCAT. Teachers could teach but make learning fun........that's not allowed anymore.

[Andy]

Not all of our students are college bound. Should we exclude them from attaining a HS diploma as well? Aren't most college bound students taking the SAT anyway? I hope the taxpayers didn't fund this research. There are other ways to make sure that the college bound students are prepared. Our school system should attempt to reach all our students.

[bob]

Should the FCAT get harder.. How about should we do away with the FCAT and allow teachers to teach students and not teach the FCAT. This is a joke. The FCAT was set up by a group of politicians who have no experience with teaching children and no teaching degrees. As an instructor I can truly say that it is very sad that from the very beginning of the school year everything that we do is centered around the FCAT and not the student. I have always said.."let the politicians who developed this take the test" If everyone of them pass it then keep it, if not then lets take the necessary steps to get rid of it. I think we all know that the outcome of that would be. Anyways, here is to another school year and another year of teaching the FCAT and not the students!

Make it easier, learning should be fun.

[A.H.]

Make the FCAT harder? Oh, please... It's a standardized test!

What they need to do is not put so much weight on the ONE test. Kids are freaking out over it as it is. "My mind is jello because of the FCAT" is all my child will say the last 3 months of school. It's ridiculous.

Better yet, get rid of it all together. Don't we already have ONE standardized test to measure how our kids are doing?