The Florida State Board of Education voted on the cut scores for the future of the Florida Standards Assessment this week -- a decision which will impact thousands of students statewide as many of them will not pass tests needed to graduate.
Political groups and education groups from around the state have chimed in on the board’s decision, with some expressing approval over the measure and others saying the new cut score and school grading formulas aren’t doing enough for Florida’s students.
Under the Commissioner of Education Pam Stewart’s cut score recommendation, nearly half of Florida’s 10th graders would fail the English Language Arts portion of the FSA.
The commissioner’s passing score breakdown shows whether or not a student scored high enough to be considered “passing” a particular section of the FSA. Scores are ranked on a 1-5 scale and a passing score is usually any score above a Level 3.
According to Stewart’s recommended “cut scores,” a little over half of Florida’s third graders passed the English Language Arts portion of the FSA. On top of that, 51 percent of the state’s 10th graders passed the ELA portion of the test, which means 49 percent -- almost half -- of the state’s students didn’t pass a test required for them to graduate high school.
But some statewide groups, like the League of Women Voters of Florida, say the state is creating more problems by focusing on a test-driven grading process.
"Manipulating passing levels and school grades is all sound and fury, signifying nothing that will help improve instruction," said LWVF President Pamela Goodman. "It is time for the Governor and the Legislature to support real education reform that empowers locally elected school boards to identify and meet the needs of their communities with the necessary resources."
Goodman added the high-stakes testing environment could potentially create a problem for teachers in the Sunshine State.
"It is unlikely that careers in teaching will flourish under this test-driven, punitive environment,” she explained. “It's time to fix the problem, not argue over how many schools to pass or fail.”
Other statewide education groups had high praise for the board’s decision on student cut scores and school grades, saying raising expectations is a sure fire way to increase student achievement.
“The last 16 years have proven that [students] can rise to those expectations,” said Foundation for Excellence in Education’s Patricia Levesque. “Continuing this strategy will ensure a more prosperous future for our students and for our state. School grades drive this process. But they are only effective inasmuch as they reflect actual student achievement and challenge schools to improve. They should be transparent and ensure that the success of all students is taken into account.
But other education groups held steady to their criticisms over overtesting in Florida schools.
“Basing high-stakes education decisions on standardized exam scores, which independent experts found ‘suspect,’ continues Florida’s history of test score misuse and overuse,” said Public Education Director of the National Center for Fair & Open Testing Bob Schaeffer.
The English Language Arts portion of the FSA will be administered in February.
