The Crushing, Suffocating Realities of High Stakes Tests on Florida’s Classrooms
On Friday, the Central Florida School Board Coalition released a report on conditions that currently exists in their 10 school districts as a result of high-stakes test domination. The Answer Sheet has the entire report with facts and statistics in bullet-form lists. This post will focus on the reports conclusions.
The Coalition counts 16 tests, administered to multiple grades were given this year. They say:
The Coalition counts 16 tests, administered to multiple grades were given this year. They say:
An enormous increase simply in the sheer quantity of testing has occurred in the State of Florida within the last decade and a half.
Moreover, the use of the results of tests has changed. For example, as of 1999, FCAT results assign school grades. In 2001, the Florida State Board of Education established the FCAT passing score as a requirement of the regular high school diploma. In 2002, AYP (as part of the NCLB law expectation of one hundred percent proficiency by 2014) was added to as part of the school score. Student performance bars have been subsequently raised to set passing scores for class. Students are required to have a passing score for class credit in Algebra 1, Geometry, and