What is the point, really, of this debate. FCAT will be replaced by the new, even harder,even more stressful national standards test in 2 or 3 years and our kids will be even more freaked out by it. We should be speaking up about THAT test now, before it wrecks our kids' lives even worse.

I can also tell you that End of Course exams are coming down the pipe for ALL subject areas, including for elementary school.

These exams will determine whether a child passes any given subject area.

NOW is the time to start demanding changes in Tallahasee. This is getting ridiculous!

I believe the change needs to happen in Tallahassee and from what i have heard Glidewell could be the answer! He is against this test and against Tallahassee being knee deep in education

End of Course exams will not happen in elementary, however, a new reading and math test on the national standards (Common Core Standards) will start in 2015. No one knows how passing and failing the test will impact promotion yet because those guidelines have not been set. The new test is Partnership for Assessment in Readiness for College and Careers(PARCC). It starts in third grade.
Really, Teacher, you should be better informed. Scary that you don't know this.

Parent, you are exactly right. I am against concentrating so much time and effort on all these tests and certainly am against all the money Tallahassee wastes on them. Teacher, you are right as well, NOW is the time to act before our education system is destroyed.

Are the tests students are given any different than they were 15 years ago? I see all of this bitching and moaning from teachers. I'd like someone to lay it out how the testing of students has changed in recent years.

The change we need is in the teachers unions. Why should there be a union to protect inferior teachers. There is NO other profession that does this. END the teachers unions and dismantle the dept of education.

so tired of this test running and ruining Florida education. Children do not know how to write a research paper anymore all they know is FCAT writing style. When they graduate they do not have life skills they cant tell time, file taxes, fill out a resume. This is all important things that children need to learn. How about american history or civics very important and until this is taught and the fat cats in Tallahassee looking for a pay day get out of office education will continue to go downhill! Danny Glidewell I agree 100%

The test would be ok if it wasnt the main focus of school today! I believe that we need education reform we need the government that has no clue about what we need to get out of the system. Why cant a teacher teach and track the progress of the student? Doesnt that teacher know more about that student and their progress?

Teacher wrote:

I can also tell you that End of Course exams are coming down the pipe for ALL subject areas, including for elementary school.
These exams will determine whether a child passes any given subject area.
NOW is the time to start demanding changes in Tallahasee. This is getting ridiculous!

Why is it ridiculous? Kids go to school to learn, if there is no way to track their progress they will graduate without knowing anything. If we leave it up to the teachers judgement there is a HUGE conflict of interest.

Jasper wrote:

<quoted text>
Why is it ridiculous? Kids go to school to learn, if there is no way to track their progress they will graduate without knowing anything. If we leave it up to the teachers judgement there is a HUGE conflict of interest.

To Jasper- Exactly! Most teachers agree with you about tracking progress. The school system can pursude (making suggestions that we must go by or ELSE!) a teachers opinion and with FCAT being electronic, it's less of a percentage of being altered or pursuded. However, the downside is the school system assigning higher IQ students to their "good ole' friends and family". I believe if a "true" lottery of assigning students was in place we might have a fair system with the FCAT in place too.

"persuade"

Jasper wrote:

<quoted text>
Why is it ridiculous? Kids go to school to learn, if there is no way to track their progress they will graduate without knowing anything. If we leave it up to the teachers judgement there is a HUGE conflict of interest.

As an educator, I assure you that students are graduating with fewer skills than pre FCAT. All we are doing now is creating good test takers, not students who know how to create, investigate, disseminate, and learn by discovery. Most teachers have great judgement, and for those who do not, there should be a competent principal to either guide them onto the correct track or out the door!

Jasper wrote:

<quoted text>
Why is it ridiculous? Kids go to school to learn, if there is no way to track their progress they will graduate without knowing anything. If we leave it up to the teachers judgement there is a HUGE conflict of interest.

It's ridiculous becsuse no one test should determine pass/fail for the entire course.

Also also amazes me how it seems to be that people think teachers are so dishonest and lazy all of a sudden.

There are some bad ones out there, but that is in every profession. There are some really good ones here in this county as well.

Stressed wrote:

<quoted text>
As an educator, I assure you that students are graduating with fewer skills than pre FCAT. All we are doing now is creating good test takers, not students who know how to create, investigate, disseminate, and learn by discovery. Most teachers have great judgement, and for those who do not, there should be a competent principal to either guide them onto the correct track or out the door!

Exactly. People act as though tenure is a life time appointment. It's not though and you can fire tenured teachers who aren't doing their jobs. It just takes a principal willing to do the documentation and follow through.

In my opinion, a teacher, nor parent can judge a once a year assessment to tell them what the student has mastered. My child makes A's and B's, but is a stressful test taker. Each year when the FCAT comes around, he gets physically sick worrying about it. He usually does well, but I'm sure that there are other students who experience the same stress! Think about the students who have learning disabilities, they can't even sit still long enough to concentrate or comprehend items on a test, much less the FCAT, but they are going to punish the teacher and student for that? It is my understanding that teachers are giving a bonus, or pay upgrade, based on student scores. What about those teachers who have low learning level students? That doesn't seem quite fair! I don't know, I could go on and on, but I am just one person, and will never make a difference. The state does what the state wants to do. Our great governor, Mr. Scott has proven that to us! It wouldn't hurt my feelings at all if they did away with FCAT and went back to the old CTBS.

I've still not got an answer. How much has the testing at the end of the year itself changed over the past 15-20 years? Can someone please expand on that? Without the testing, how do you propose that students and teachers be evaluated on the progress made?

Curious wrote:

I've still not got an answer. How much has the testing at the end of the year itself changed over the past 15-20 years? Can someone please expand on that? Without the testing, how do you propose that students and teachers be evaluated on the progress made?

I don't know how it is today, my daughter graduated 12 years ago from Marriana High. She never took a final exam. The policy was, if you have an "A" you don't have to take the final.

Curious wrote:

I've still not got an answer. How much has the testing at the end of the year itself changed over the past 15-20 years? Can someone please expand on that? Without the testing, how do you propose that students and teachers be evaluated on the progress made?

I'm not a teacher but this is my opinion of how the testing has changed. When standardized tests were given "back in the day" the purpose was to let teachers and students/parents know how much progress they were making. Remember percentiles? The test would show how the student did when compared to others in that grade on a nationwide scale. The test was not used to decide whether the student passed or failed the grade...that's what the unit tests/finals/homework/class participation was for. Nor was the test an attempt to evaluate the teacher because back then they knew that some students were brighter but mostly that some students had better home opportunities for learning. This was not a reflection on the teacher. And it was also known that certain subjects would never be on a standardized test, such as Humanities, American Government, Music, etc. But this didn't mean that those subjects were unimportant. So now you have a test that is so important that all teaching must be geared towards the test and nothing that doesn't appear on the test gets any classroom time to speak of. This test is so important that it can demand that a student repeat a grade if it is failed...one test on one day.

My kids have always done well on the FCAT and have done very well in school. That being said, I believe we had a more well rounded education "back in the day." I don't believe we can get rid of the FCAT, though. There are too many people that make their living adminstering, creating, and grading it to get rid of the whole thing.

In short FCAT is another well camouflaged waste of the tax money to creat unnecessary jobs at high pay levels. It's not so much a tool for student evaluations as a gimmick to justify teachers and their so called standards of production. Seem the logical thing to do would be to cut out the FCAT, over paid administrators, put Principles back to running the schools and the saves money back into academics. And if the Principles can't administer the school in the proper manner, fire them and find someone that will. Of cource that would put the politics and good ole girl systems out of business so it wont happen in Jackson Co.