The FCAT Writing, On The Wall
The annual release of state testing data makes the news in every state, but Florida is one of those places where it is to some degree a national story.*
Well, it’s getting to be that time of year again. Last week, the state released its writing exam (FCAT 2.0 Writing)results for 2013 (as well as the math and reading results for third graders only). State Education Commissioner Tony Bennett said the results showed “incredible improvement.” Similarly, the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE)press release noted: “With significant gains in writing scores, Florida’s teachers and students continue to show that higher expectations and support at home and in the classroom enable every child to succeed.” This interpretation of the data was generally repeated without scrutiny in the press coverage of the results.
Putting aside the fact that the press release incorrectly calls the year-to-year changes “gains” (they are actually comparisons of two different groups of students; see here), the FLDOE’s presentation of the FCAT Writing results is, at best, incomplete and, at worst, misleading. Moreover, the issues in this case are uncommonly easy to illustrate using the simple data released to the public.
First, however, it’s important to note that the administration of the FCAT Writing test changed in a manner that precludes straightforward comparison of the 2013 results to those from 2012. Prior to 2013, students were given 45 minutes to complete the “writing prompt,” or the essay portion of the exam. Starting with the 2013 test, they were