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Democrats Push To Dump FCAT; Republicans Want More Exams
December 20, 2010
Florida Democrats are continuing this week to propose dumping the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test as their Republican counterparts continue to put more emphasis on standardized exams.
Rep. Daphne Campbell, D-Miami, has filed HB 71, which would discontinue the FCAT and at the high school level, replace it with the High School Competency Test, which would require passage to graduate from high school.
Rep. Dwight Bullard, D-Miami, is proposing terminating the FCAT for students in grades 9 through 12, but requiring that students in 10th grade take the Pre-SAT or the ACT’s Explore and Plan exam. Bullard’s mother, Sen. Larcenia Bullard, D-Miami, has filed senate companion legislation to her son’s proposal.
Comments
10 Responses to “Democrats Push To Dump FCAT; Republicans Want More Exams”
REGARDING:
“some courses are better taught and studied in a manner other than some multiple choice standardized exam”
You mean like the FCAT writing essay, or the part of the math section including graphing including titling the graph, labeling the axes, plotting the points, making lines or curves as appropriate, showing the work. It isn’t all multiple guess.
Much of the FCAT can be successfully handled by simply reading and being able to think. If the teachers aren’t teaching THAT, it needs to be revealed.
FCAT also can help individual teachers to see how her/his students did on particular portions of the FCAT. If all of them missed a particular thing, they were being taught wrong, not just badly. It happens.
Add to this how the Army released results of the ASVAB showing how some 350,000 students did on a test which only requires 31 our of 99 to get into the Army. (Everybody else has higher requirements. Marines being the highest and smartest. Okay, much smarter people may have entered the Army but their bar is set lowest of any armed service, Marines set highest.)
Of course, they could all be wrong to test applicants. Maybe they should all be allowed to enter law or medicine and become lawyers and doctors without passing any of those bothersome tests.
David wanting a second opinion
Good luck working out the issues with the schools. Unfortunately standardized tests do become a means to an end. In other words the classes become focused on passing the exams and not teaching the courses. Not to mention how some courses are better taught and studied in a manner other than some multiple choice standardized exam.
I think the tests become feel good measures and a political tool but overall actually hurt when it comes to the students education.
One of my daughters was in the 3rd grade that first year when they told us that students HAD to pass in order to be promoted to the 4th grade. She had had fantastic grades all year long, one B and the rest A’s. Guess what? They held her back. We didn’t find out until halfway through the following year that there were exceptions to the rules and she should have been passed anyway. What a waste.
I wish they would do away with it. My child is sick for a couple of weeks leading up to the test and violently ill while it is being administered. The doctor has to give her something for nerves every year. What is the purpose of this? What is this supposed to be doing? She is a very smart child, at the top of her class, but she bombs on the FCAT every time. Why should that one test have anything to do with her scholastic progress? It’s just a pain in the rear.
The FCAT may not be perfect and it probably cost the state more than it is worth, but it does hold all students to the same standards. A good teacher should be able to identify a child who is falling behind or has special needs and arrange for the remedial assistance required. Granted there are other factors such as student attitude, effort, and parent involvement. The attitude of any one student should not be allowed to adversely affect the achievement of others.
The teachers union will not allow the teachers to be held to any standards. If there’s not a standard to be met, you can’t identify the teachers that need mentoring, remediation or a career change. In the business world, if you can’t achieve the standards set forth by your employer, they find someone who can and you find a new job.
As far as the worth of the FCAT or any standardized test, if the administration can’t use the results to address the limiting factors to achievement, they are useless.
Yes Students, there is a Santa Clause.
Especially if our legislators drop this stupid FCAT test. I agree students need to be tested somehow but this FCAT is not it.
REGARDING:
“The FCAT is not a true measure of education.”
What every test measures is the ability to take THAT particular test.
A well designed test will tell more than that. It has always been interesting how many educators act as if they think the way to educate is to teach to the test when they know that is not proper education.
Still, no matter what you call it, you need some way to determine if students are learning what they should learn. That means you need to decide what they should learn in the first place.
David for perfect tests
There is a God! Thank you for considering dropping this FCAT. I hear nothing but struggling kids who are ready to drop out because they are so discouraged with having to take and pass this thing. We don’t mind standardized tests but come on folks, our teachers would like to TEACH for a change and our kids would like to feel encouraged for a change. The kids go 12 years and for what? To find out they can’t get their diploma because of a silly test. I know of one young lady who had a 3.5 GPA and struggled with the FCAT – had a scholarship waiting and did not get her diploma. SHAME ON FLORIDA! Let’s go back to assessing our children earlier and helping them out on all different levels. I for one would love to be a mentor to some of these students. HANG IN THERE EVERYONE……WE’LL GET OUR PRAYERS ANSWERED!
I’m pretty sure every student looks forward to their 12th grade year when you finally don’t have to take the FCAT. Sure you’ve got the ACT and SAT, but that’s kind of more on your level and isn’t a requirement for high school. Those are only if you’re seriously wanting to go to college. I personally hate all of these high school required tests because if you take higher classes, like honors or just something different than you’re “normal” class (EX: Anatomy instead of Environmental Science) , the stuff you’re learning in those classes is not on those tests at all. I really just think we should have to pass our teacher made exams since that is what we’re actually learning. You can still keep the ACT and SAT and all, but these stupid tests we have to take for a requirement in high school are useless. Like colleges are really looking at my FCAT scores, no. They’ll look at my ACT or SAT and overall performance in my classes.
More exams = more money for textbook publishing companies who design and sell the tests. Those tests are coming from a privately owned, FOR PROFIT company that lobbies with politicians so the rest of us can pay for big corporate execs to dumb down the rest of us.
I am SOOOO for this!!!! The FCAT is not a true measure of education. The teachers teach the FCAT for 6-7 months and then truly teach the other 2-3 months. Teaching is difficult as it is, why add more. LET TEACHERS TEACH THE WAY WE WERE TAUGHT AND MAYBE OUR CHILDREN WILL LEARN SOMETHING!!!!