FCAT Science » FCAT In The News

FCAT Testing 2011

Diana Wehrell-Grabowski — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 15:11:35 +0000

Students across the state of Florida are taking the FCAT 2.0 this week. The FCAT 2.0 will help to assess students under the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards (NGSS) which were implemented in 2007. The FCAT 2.0 will include NGSS in reading and math. New science standards will be tested in 2012. The FCAT testing was scheduled later in the school year compared to previous years, which allows for more time to cover content. More important, more time to actually comprehend the content versus drilling irrelevant and fragmented facts into students heads. The Next Generation Sunshine State Standards are designed to make connections, favor quality over quantity. Students will cover fewer concepts in math, reading, and science but the concepts will be covered in greater depth. There is a lot of pressure on teachers this year because beginning next year, FCAT scores will affect teacher pay. Half of the teacher evaluations will be based on how their students performed in the FCAT and other exams over a three-year period. I’m definitely one for teacher accountable but not based primarily on test scores. There is no question that teacher evaluation and continued contracts need to be re-evaluated and revamped nationwide. In any private business or government position individuals are assessed yearly. If you are not performing up to standards, you are out. It’s quite difficult with the power of unions to fire a teacher who is incompetent. And unfortunately, it is the students who suffer. Long-term our nation suffers when students are not being given the opportunity for a quality K-12 education. I’d be in favor of teacher evaluation based on the teacher as a whole. Look at the dedication of the teacher, motivation, classroom environment, the relationship the teacher has with their students and their parents. Lastly, look at test scores over a several year period. Wishing all the Florida students and teachers a positive FCAT testing experience this week.

SB4 Bill, A Positive Step In The Right Direction For Promoting Scientific Literacy Among All

Diana Wehrell-Grabowski — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 14:27:05 +0000

SB4, the bill on assessment and graduation requirements passed in the Florida House and Senate, and is now headed for Governor Crist’s desk for approval. I see SB4 as a positive stepin the right direction for the state of Florida to insure that all of its students become scientific literate citizens. Essentially the bill will eliminate the Science FCAT at the high school level, and will be replaced by end of the course science and math exams. SB4 modifies the state’s present graduation requirements of 3 science courses by requiring that one of them be a biology class and a second be either a chemistry or physics class. A weakness in SB4 is the lack of addressing the need for students to take an Earth and Space Science related course. Hopefully, this weakness will be addressed in the near future. Opponents of the bill argue that students not seeking to pursue higher education or careers in science and math should not be expected to take additional math and science courses. Unfortunately, the opponents of this bill have yet to conceptualize the “big picture” which is, it’s irrelevant whether a high school student has the desire to continue onto college or into a science or math related career or not. Every individual needs to be exposed to “more advanced” math and science courses so that when they do graduate from high school they are scientific literate citizens. If Governor Crist gives his seal of approval for SB4 I’m hoping that funding is allocated for increased meaningful math, biology, and physics laboratory experiences for the students. Secondly, funding for providing on-going, quality math and science professional staff development for the teachers will be essential for the implementation of SB4’s revised math and science graduation requirements.

State Legislators Are Proposing To Replace The High School FCAT With End-Of-Course Exam

Diana Wehrell-Grabowski — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 23:33:45 +0000

There has been talk amongst Florida lawmakers over the last several years to replace high school FCATs with end-of-course exams. It looks like this proposal may become a reality. A bipartisan group of state lawmakers is moving forward this legislative session with a plan to replace the high school FCAT test with a series of standardized end-of-course exams. The House and Senate education committees plan to jointly introduce bills next month. Lawmakers believe the proposed bill will modernize high school accountability as well as having students be assessed with specific tests to cover specific classes versus the existing 11th-grade FCAT science exam which is not tied to any specific science class. However, individuals have raised concerns that getting rid of the FCAT and replacing it with another test may not be any better. Maryland, Mississippi, New York, Tennessee, and Virginia began using end-of-course exams in 2009. Texas is in the process of developing tests in English, Science, History, and Math for ninth-11th graders graduation requirements by 2011. If the bill is approved, the proposed testing change would likely begin with math next year, followed by science and reading, with the goal of making a complete transition within four years. Students would have to pass the exams to earn course credit, and the courses would become graduation requirements. Thus, instead of taking a math FCAT in ninth grade, students would take an exam after completing Algebra I. Source St. Petersburg Times, Wednesday, January 27, 2010 Is FCAT on the way out? by Jeffrey S. Solochek and Ron Matus, Times Staff Writers. For further details on the proposed bill see the following article .

Highlights of the bill expected to be presented in the next few weeks:

Substitute an end-of-course Algebra I exam for ninth-grade FCAT math
Substitute an end-of-course geometry exam for 10th grade FCAT math
Substitute end-of-course Biology I exam for 11th-grade FCAT science
Require passage of end-of-course exams to earn credit in those three courses, which would become graduation requirements
Implement lower-stakes end-of-course exams for English/Language Arts II, Algebra II, Chemistry, Physics, Earth/Space Science, U.S. History and World History as money is available.

Source Florida House Pre-K-12 Policy Committee

http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Committees/committeesdetail.aspx?CommitteeId=2462&sessionId=64

Sarasota Schools Prepare for The 2009 FCAT

Diana Wehrell-Grabowski — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 23:48:11 +0000

An article in The Herald Tribune by Tiffany Lakes, published on December 20th, 2009 provides details on several Sarasota schools and their plans to prepare students for this year’s FCAT. Article is entitled “This Year’s FCAT Lesson: Plan Ahead.” See the link below for the complete article.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20091220/article/912201041

Miami Democrat , Dwight Bullard Files Legislation To Replace The FCAT With End-Of-Course Exams

Diana Wehrell-Grabowski — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 02:08:50 +0000

Rep. Dwight Bullard, D-Miami, has filed legislation to replace the FCAT with end-of-course exams in a range of subject. The argument for this change is that Democrats say the exams would expand and better measure what students learn over the year. This would replace the current practice of many teachers who spend a great deal of the school year teaching to the FCAT. For further details of this legislation see the link below.

Resource:

Article in the Miami Herald Blog Posted by Shannon Colavecchio on December 15th, 2009.

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2009/12/swap-fcat-for-end-of-year-exams-dems-say.html