The Florida Standards Assessment is only two years old, but some state lawmakers are already looking for another option to test Florida’s students on what they’ve learned during the school year.
Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, is leading the charge in the Florida Legislature to allow school districts to choose other types of standardized tests -- like the SAT and the ACT for different grades.
The bill, SB 1360, has several provisions which would give students the ability to take different tests like the ACT Aspire instead of the FSA. The ACT Aspire is a newly redesigned version of the ACT’s Plan test, which was the company’s version of the PSAT, the “practice test” for the SAT college-entrance exam.
Under state law, at least 95 percent of students are required to sit for standardized tests each year to calculate school grades.
The ACT Aspire is a replacement test -- a test redesigned to align to the Common Core State Standards, the standards which Florida adopted in 2010 (the state currently has a revamped version of the standards under a different name, the Florida Standards).
Under SB 1360, students in grades 3 through 8 would be given the option to take the ACT Aspire exam for English Language Arts, mathematics or science, unless their parents opted for them to take the FSA instead.
Under Gaetz’s bill, district school boards would also be given the option between the FSA and the ACT/ACT Aspire for ninth and tenth graders. If a student has taken the ACT Aspire in those grades (or have “demonstrated readiness”), they can take the ACT.
The tests would have the same weight as the FSA in deciding whether students are ready to graduate high school.
The bill gathered bipartisan support from state lawmakers, many of whom have applauded the proposal and have indicated it’s a step in the right direction for giving students more educational choices.
“I think everyone understands this issue based on all the hearings we’ve held,” said Gaetz at the bill’s last hearing in the Senate Education Appropriations Committee.
Other lawmakers chimed in, saying the bill is an important measure for Florida to take.
"It’s a recognition that we are continuing to embrace high standards and accountability, and it’s a recognition that we can do better,” said Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee.
Although the legislation has had a relatively easy time passing through its respective committees, the bill’s future doesn’t seem to be all smooth sailing.
A new report released this week indicated that Florida with academic standards most closely aligned to the National Assessment of Educational Progress test, considered by some in the education field to be the “gold standard” for assessing high academic achievement.
That report, commissioned by the same testing company with a $200+ million contract with the Florida Department of Education, said that PARCC, another assessment test, was more closely aligned to NAEP than other tests like the ACT Aspire and Smarter Balanced are.
Sunshine State News contacted the Florida Department of Education to comment on Gaetz’s bill, but the department said it does not comment on pending legislation.
Commissioner of Education Pam Stewart has said in the past, however, that other assessments besides the FSA would not be able to measure student achievement of Florida’s specific educational benchmarks and expectations appropriately.
Another caveat for SB 1360 is, however, the fact that so far, it doesn’t have a House companion bill, and the sands of the legislative hourglass are falling quickly. Rep. Debbie Mayfield, R-Vero Beach, said she’d try to rope the bill into HB 1135, but that legislation hasn’t been heard since January.
Some groups, like the grassroots group Florida Citizens Alliance, say the bill is dangerous because it still leaves the FSA test in play.
“It is all or nothing. This is a false choice between two high stakes disastrous alternatives,” the group wrote. “If the intent is to push children out of public schools into homeschooling or other similar alternatives, this may be a huge success! But unfortunately, it will still leave most of our 2.7 million students trapped.”
Gaetz's bill is still waiting to be heard by the Senate Appropriations Committee, but was not put on the bill's agenda for its Thursday meeting.
Reach reporter Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen.
