A good step for FCAT

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A good step for FCAT

Opinions

Friday, 18 May 2012 12:54

The State Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday to lower the passing grade for the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test writing test to a 3.0 from a 4.0 after public outcry Monday when state test results showed a dramatic decrease in passing students.
Now, external and internal audits are being conducted to determine why there was such a change in test scores between 2011 and 2012, when the test remained the same.
We applaud this move by the state because it might lead to any improvements needed on how the test is administered. As we see with the recent writing scores, something went wrong. And we would hope that with any changes, state educators would have the opportunity to offer their professional opinions.
We also applaud Osceola County School District Superintendent Terry Andrews who is trying to calm any fears. He stated that he is prepared to navigate parents, students and teachers through what the state board’s vote means to them.
The FCAT writing test changed this year after the state board agreed in 2011 to have two scorers grade each essay and to increase the rigor in which the essays are graded in terms of quality of support such as details to emphasize the student’s point and in conventions, which include spelling, punctuation and grammar.
Preliminary statewide results show 27 percent of fourth graders scored a 4.0 or above compared to 81 percent who scored similarly in 2011.
Furthermore, 33 percent of eighth graders scored higher than a 4.0 this year compared to 82 percent last year and 38 percent of tenth graders scored a 4.0 or higher in 2012 compared to 75 percent in 2011.
The Florida Department of Education will be providing a one-page sheet explaining what occurred and its meaning for parents and students to be released with individual students.
School grades allow districts to earn more state and federal dollars depending on their performance, contract needed services to poor performing schools, make a decision to close schools that repeatedly do poorly, shift students and faculty and provide opportunity scholarships for students attending failing schools.
It’s not breaking news that this test has had its critics. But we believe that not turning a blind eye to the decrease in writing scores is a step in the right direction.