Fom the Daytona News Beach News Journal, by Linda Trimble
- It's time for FCAT -- the exam used to measure students' academic progress, grade schools and evaluate teachers' performance -- to be tested itself for validity, cost and impact on what Florida children learn.
That's the thrust of a resolution the Volusia County School Board is expected to approve Tuesday, putting it squarely in the midst of a statewide debate about how the test is used and should be used.
"It's not an anti-testing resolution, it's a 'let's take a breath and reassess what we're doing' resolution," said School Board member Candace Lankford, a past president of the Florida School Boards Association that originated the measure and passed it last week by unanimous vote.
Flagler County's School Board passed a similar resolution earlier this month.
"We want to promote high standards and rigor, but we also must realize all this raising the bar takes time to implement," Lankford said.
The resolution calls for an independent evaluation of Florida's school-accountability system; addition of multiple forms of assessment and limits on standardized testing, and elimination of using test scores as the "primary basis" for evaluating teacher, administrator, school and district performance.
It also says changes to the accountability system should be phased in to allow sufficient time to prepare students for them, and the state should pick up the full tab for student assessment. This spring, the State Board of Education lowered the FCAT writing-exam proficiency score at the last minute after preliminary passing rates plummeted.
Florida Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson has criticized the resolution, saying it's based on a fear of high-stakes assessments that ignores the state's "proven track record of success" in improving student performance since FCAT was launched in 1998.
The Flagler School Board passed a similar resolution in early June based on a national version before the Florida School Boards Association finalized its state-specific wording. The national version asked state officials to re-examine the school-accountability system and develop one "based on multiple forms of assessment which does not require extensive standardized testing."
The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test is the foundation of the state's school-accountability system. It helps determine who graduates from high school, which students move up from one grade to the next and how public schools are rated -- a process that yields cash rewards for top performers and sanctions against schools that fail repeatedly.
It's not the test itself but the way it's used that's rankled Volusia County School Board members.
"You're hanging stuff on this test it wasn't designed for," said School Board member Stan Schmidt. "I don't think anyone would tell you they fear a test. Classroom teachers have given tests forever. There has to be trust this (test) is OK."
Volusia School Board member Diane Smith said the flap over this year's writing scores was "laughable."
"Why don't we take a step back and assess the test and assess the (testing) company? I certainly have questions about the validity," she said.
Smith said the state emphasis on testing hampers teachers' creativity in the classroom.
"We hire these talented people to be in front of our kids and then don't let them do what they do best," she said.
The School Board is scheduled to vote on the resolution in a meeting that starts at 4 p.m. Tuesday in the School Administrative Complex, 200 N. Clara Ave.
http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/west-volusia/2012/06/24/volusia-joins-flagler-in-growing-fcat-debate.html
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