From the Palm Beach Post, by Jac Wilder VerSteeg
Though end-of-course exams should be an improvement on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, the lead-off test in that refinement has produced weak results.
Statewide, just 48 percent of ninth-graders passed the Algebra 1 exam. Just 44 percent of Palm Beach County freshmen passed. There's a lot of gulping going on; students who entered high school in 2011-12 are the first who must pass the algebra exam to graduate.
In its news release, the state emphasized that "almost nine out of 10 middle-schoolers who took the assessment passed." That's great, but the roughly 60,000 middle-schoolers were a largely self-selected group taking algebra early because they're good at math. They're volunteers; ninth-graders are draftees.
Until now, students had to pass the more generic 10th-grade math FCAT to graduate. More end-of-course exams that students must pass to graduate are on the way. Exams in geometry and biology were administered this year, and count for 30 percent of the student's final grade.
The state "field-tested" a history end-of-course exam this year. Eventually, Florida students will face state-mandated civics and language arts exams as well as tests in more advanced math.
In theory, school districts are supposed to administer state-approved end-of-course tests in all courses within a few years. That's part of Florida's controversial teacher evaluation system. But most of those tests won't be graduation requirements.
Reading and math FCATs once were given in March - way too early. More efficient scoring allowed them to be moved to April, but that's still well before the end of the academic year. Unfortunately, the current "end-of-course" tests still aren't end-of-course. The geometry, biology and history exams were administered as early as April 23, and the algebra exams as early as April 30.
The later the dates, the more instruction time will be available. The state also expects scores to improve as teachers learn how to "align" their courses with the new state requirements. That's just a less pejorative way of saying that teachers will get better at teaching to the test. Admittedly, with such subjects as algebra and geometry, a fair amount of teaching to the test is required.
Success on retakes will be a crucial piece of the new end-of-course system. With even more must-pass tests, remediation will have to be more sophisticated. The Algebra 1 retakes weren't encouraging. Of 7,798 students who retook it, just 43 percent passed. But what happens over the next few years will be a much more telling test of the retake system.
More than 58,000 ninth-graders statewide who need to pass the Algebra 1 exam to graduate flunked it this year. The demand for refresher courses only will increase, and the success rate needs to be much higher than 43 percent.
As it has done, the state likely will provide a loophole allowing students to substitute an SAT or ACT math score for graduation. Those score levels have not been set.
True end-of-course tests on specific subjects ought to be better than the FCAT model. That's if the focus is on helping students pass the first time and be more successful when retakes are necessary. To the extent the state focuses on using end-of-course exams the same way it has used the FCAT - more to punish schools and teachers than to help students - the new tests will repeat the old tests' failings.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/editorials/same-as-the-old-fcat-2392816.html
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