There's an old saying about the inmates running the asylum that comes to mind with this story from a science educator in Florida who looked into the science portion of Florida's standardized assessment. Robert Krampf was developing some science test prep questions for 5th graders preparing to take that state's high-stakes FCAT test. Using the FL DOE's own site as a guide, he found many flaws in what was presented as science.
A few weeks ago, I started developing FCAT practice questions to help students review concepts and prepare for the test. To develop those questions I used FLDOE's FCAT 2.0 Science Test Item Specifications. These documents are used as:
"a resource that defines the content and format of the test and test items for item writers and reviewers."
I expected the Test Item Specifications to be a tremendous help in writing simulated FCAT
