FCAT Science

The Florida Com­pre­hen­sive Assess­ment Test (FCAT) is a criterion-referenced test in read­ing, writ­ing, math­e­mat­ics, and sci­ence based on Florida’s Sun­shine State Stan­dards. The FCAT is a test given to Florida Stu­dents to mea­sure what they know and are able to accom­plish in read­ing, writ­ing, math­e­mat­ics, and sci­ence. The test is part of Florida’s plan to improve stu­dent achievement.

The FCAT test includes assess­ments in the fol­low­ing areas:

* Writ­ing for stu­dents in grades 4, 8, and 10

* Read­ing and math­e­mat­ics for stu­dents in grades 3 through 10

* Sci­ence for stu­dents in grades 5, 8, and 11

What is the pur­pose of the FCAT?

The pur­pose of the FCAT is to col­lect infor­ma­tion of two kinds:

* Par­ents, stu­dents, and teach­ers need FCAT data to pro­vide infor­ma­tion about stu­dent mas­tery of skills.

* The pub­lic needs FCAT data to under­stand the “edu­ca­tional health” of stu­dents and to hold schools and dis­tricts account­able for progress.

What is mea­sured by the FCAT?

The FCAT mea­sures stu­dent knowl­edge and under­stand­ing of read­ing, writ­ing, sci­ence, and math­e­mat­ics con­tent as described in the Sun­shine State Stan­dards. There is a direct con­nec­tion between the Sun­shine State Stan­dards and the ques­tions on the FCAT.

What are the Sun­shine State Stan­dards?

The Stan­dards are skills and com­pe­ten­cies that Florida stu­dents should be able to learn from an early age, as defined by prac­tic­ing class­room teach­ers, edu­ca­tional spe­cial­ist, busi­ness peo­ple, and con­cerned cit­i­zens from Florida.

When do stu­dents take the FCAT?

* FCAT writ­ing in February.

* FCAT read­ing, math­e­mat­ics, and sci­ence in March.

Ref­er­ence: Office of Assess­ment and School Per­for­mance, Florida Depart­ment of Education

http://fcat.fldoe.org/pdf/myths-facts.pdf   link to FCAT Myths vs. Facts pdf file.

You can obtain addi­tional detailed infor­ma­tion about the FCAT from Florida Depart­ment of Edu­ca­tion.  http://fcat.fldoe.org/