I understand completely about your situation. My daughter has been fighting the FCAT battle in math and I am proud to say she improved her score by 120 points and passed. This sounds great right? But the pressure she was put under was to the detriment of all her other grades. I mean who has time to study other subjects when you are killing yourself studying and fretting over FCAT. My daughter doubled up on her math classes as well as having tutoring after school and virtual school. All her A classes fell to B classes and her grade point dropped by one whole point , but hey-she passed her FCAT! big whoop, what does that prove. Now I am sure she will bring her grade point back up this coming year and now all we have to do is worry about science FCAT. Wonder if she will have to sacrafice anything else. She already is unable to get her English major because of the math requirements (she will be 1 credit shy)which means summer school or more virtual school. They already require more than the class slots allow. Now with the addition of more math requirements for incoming freshman about the only major you can finish is math. I'm sure you are a good student and have interests and abilities. Too bad it is so hard for the Florida system to understand this.

I agree with the proud parent of the 4.0 how can a failing FCAT determine if you graduate or not ? How many of the teachers can pass the test? If you want to fail any child because of the failing grade on the test then I think you should make all of the teachers in the state take it and if they don't pass it then replace them with someone who can. Now I bet the state will look at the test a whole new way.. My child is also a 4.0 student but whos to say he would even pass the test. I don't know . So are you telling me if a child receives all failing grades he or she could possibly pass the Fcat and then pass on to the next grade. Because that should be the case since an all A student could fail the fcat and not graduate then that should stand as well. I guess we won't be relocating to Florida afterall. Thanks for the headsup , and good luck with your smart child he is not a failure.

There was an earlier post that the ACT can override the FCAT. Why don't you look into that? It may be a little late but go ahead and look into it. It costs like $40 and you can take it on a Saturday. The exact same thing happened to my daughter and if i had that information, she would have graduated with her class.

I am a mother of two wonderful girls that always got A's and B's Outstanding and at grade level, And today I receive a shock news from one of my girls teacher that my daughter may be held in 3rd grade for failing this FCATs test. My daughter right the minute they notified them about this she start to cry until at 9:pm she finally fall asleep. Her self esteem drop immediate. And she ask me the most interesting question, Why do I have to get good grade and do a lot of hard work if I'm not going to go to 4th grade with my friends? Now what do you tell a girl that she gives everything to have always good grades that the System of Education sees her like a failure because she didn't't pass her FCAT's.

i am not really a mother, i am a student. i have been desperately seeking moral support for myself in order to feel better about this situation. nobody would ever understand unless put in the same position as we students are put into every year until we "graduate". I just moved from Puerto Rico, a spanish speaking country. i moved in mid june. ony to find myself with this. i am currently a senior at timber creek high school. to tell you something rather uncomfortable, my first language is obviously spanish. and i passed the reading FCAT, yet miserably failed the Math. I had to retake it this March and i am supposed to graduate in May. the weeks before taking the test, i was miserable. and to me, thinking that i came here to seek a better education and future and that it is depending on this test is not fair. my school is an "A" school, but to tell you the truth, it should be the staff who should be graded. i came in to matriculate on the very first day of school and they told me i had all the credits i needed. to this day i have 25 credits, needing only 24 to graduate. but you know something? my counselor, recognized my name when i gave her my FCAT test sheet because i had finished it. i had never met her before. she told me she needed to talk to me about some issue with the credits and whatnot. the day i went to talk to her she told me that i needed one science credit to graduate. why didn't they put me in a science class since the beggining? why is it my fault? why do they tell me now? now that school is almost over? these people have crushed my goals and dreams.

I believe i need to do some grading myself.
Timber Creek HS gets an F from me.

Please visit www.teacheractivistgroups.org in order to sign the
following statement that voices our concerns about the kind of Education Secretary
that we want. Additionally, please FORWARD this message to your friends
and colleagues who are also concerned about the future of public education.
Thank you!
The National Network of Teacher Activist Groups
_www.teacheractivistgroups.org_ (www.teacheractivistgroups.org)

TUTORING COMPANIES WILL BE GRADED BASED ON STUDENT SUCCESS IN FCAT
South Florida Sun-Sentinel -- October 10, 2008
By Kathy Bushouse

For the first time next year, state officials will grade private
companies charged with improving students' grades.

Starting March 1, the state Department of Education will issue grades to
tutoring companies that provide extra help to low-income students so
they perform better on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.

Much like schools' grades from the state are based on students' FCAT
performance, the state will issue grades to the tutoring companies based
on their clients' test scores. The better they score, and the more
progress they show, the higher the grade.

Proponents say the grades will help parents choose which state-approved
tutoring company could best help their child, and will help school
districts evaluate providers. The state Legislature passed the new grade
requirements during the 2008 session, and Gov. Charlie Crist signed it
into law in June.

With scores of providers to choose from -- 107 in Broward and 70 in Palm
Beach County -- the grades will help school districts show parents the
difference between companies, said Terry Pitchford, manager of
supplemental educational services for the Palm Beach County School District.

"There's a huge variation in the types of services provided, and a big
variation in the cost," Pitchford said. "We've never been able to say,
'This one's been more effective at creating learning gains than the other.'"

Just what criteria the state Department of Education will use to issue
those grades is unclear. Officials are reviewing student performance
data from 2007 and 2008 to determine tutoring companies' grades, a
department spokeswoman said.

More than 6,400 Broward students and 5,800 Palm Beach County students
are expected this year to take advantage of extra help under the federal
No Child Left Behind Act that aims to raise reading and math skills.

Schools are required to offer free tutoring if they receive federal
money but don't show progress under the accountability act. The only
students who can sign up for free tutors are those who qualify for free
or reduced-price lunch. Priority is given to struggling students.

Companies working in Broward County receive up to $1,405 per student for
tutoring services. In Palm Beach County, companies receive up to $1,305
per student. The professional tutoring companies receive federal money
that otherwise would go to the district to use in its poorer schools,
also called Title 1 schools.

The federal act requires states to measure the effectiveness of
supplemental educational service providers, though the law does not
require states to give providers actual grades.

Tutoring company officials say they're ready for the grades, but some
question whether parents will really use them or understand what they're
reading.

"I don't think it's going to make that much difference to the parents,"
said Minnie Campfield, owner of T&T Learning Center in Pompano Beach,
which tutors students at five Broward elementary schools. "Our struggle
is getting the parents to come in, and they don't have the time."

Some tutoring company leaders say they still don't know how they'll be
graded, and wonder whether the grades might change how tutors do business.

Say a student is tutored for 29 hours in reading and one hour in math,
but the state weighs both subjects equally to grade a tutoring company's
work with that student. If that student performs poorly on math, "it's
going to show up in your grade," said Berry Lamy, director of operations
for A++ at JFK Tutoring, a North Lauderdale-based company that serves 25
school districts throughout Florida.

Still, Lamy said he supports the principle behind the grades.

"It's no different than the schools being graded," he said. "The
parents, they'll be able to know which providers are doing a good job,
just as if they'd be able to know which schools were A-rated."

sun-sentinel.com/news/schools/sfl-flbtutor1010sboct10,0,4310705.story

How stupid is this-
1. We assume teachers can't assess a student without a test
2. If the parents and student doesn't care, why should we?
3.More of our tax money going to underpriviledged students when middle income students could also benefit from free tutoring.
4.Let the parents pick the tutors based on test scores? Higher score easier test, Duh!

The Florida School system in all it's wisdom is currently testing something which they feel will solve the dilhema of the FCAT test. They are using an early warning reading assesment test to help teachers point out which students will be best suited for FCAT. That's right folks, they may soon be giving students an assesment test to see if students can pass the assesment test! This should be so much better- I'm glad someone thought of this. Florida just doesn't have a clue. If your child's teacher can't tell which of her students have reading problems then she's got no business teaching. Does the administration think so little of its teachers?

Here is another article I thought people might like to read-




NO GREAT EXPECTATIONS FOR EDUCATION IN FLORIDA
> South Florida Sun-Sentinel -- October 1, 2008
> Ralph De La Cruz Column
>
> I've come to really hate the FCAT.
>
> Not just because it creates unnecessary anxiety at too young an age. Not
> just because it reduces learning to filling in the multiple-choice
> bubbles on a standardized test. And not just because it hijacks lesson
> plans and class time.
>
> No. I really, really hate the FCAT because it provides political cover.
>
> It allows state lawmakers and bureaucrats to pretend this state has high
> educational expectations of its children.
>
> When, in fact, Tallahassee treats the education of our kids like a teen
> treats a pimple. They focus obsessively on the problem areas. And then
> squeeze and pinch until it bleeds.
>
> Hey, just put a little FCAT on that zit and it'll get better.
>
> If expectations were legitimately high, legislators and the state Board
> of Education would spend as much class time and resources on programs
> that push the high-achievers and the creative to new heights as they do
> on programs helping low-achievers pass a standardized test.
>
> Money would flow into the arts and music. Debate. Broadcasting and
> webcasting. Journalism.
>
> Instead, two years ago, then-Gov. Jeb Bush excluded art classes from the
> state requirement that students take at least one class in a performing
> or practical art (such as those listed in the previous paragraph) before
> graduating.
>
> Not surprisingly, enrollment in art classes fell dramatically.
>
> On Saturday, at the Florida Scholastic Press Conference's District 7
> meeting, the buzz was that the state Board of Education is considering
> removing journalism from the practical/performing arts requirement.
>
> "That would be disastrous," said Steven Jay Thor, journalism teacher at
> Deerfield Beach High and director of FSPA District 7, which covers
> Martin, Palm Beach and Broward counties.
>
> "It's extremely important," Sean DeLaney, the journalism teacher at Boca
> Raton's Spanish River High, said of the practical arts requirement.
> DeLaney has one of the top journalism programs in Palm Beach County.
>
> "I had four journalism classes last year," he said. "This year I only
> have two. I'd hate to see it drop anymore."
>
> The drop at Spanish River, however, is not symptomatic of a broader
> decline. More than 1,100 kids showed up Saturday — the best showing for
> a District 7 conference.
>
> Those youngsters seemed to recognize that despite the current
> insecurity, the boundaries of journalism are exploding. They understand
> they are the pioneers of this new frontier.
>
> And the state of Florida is considering de-emphasizing the new frontier.
>
> The word at the conference was that the matter would be taken up by the
> Board of Education at a workshop this week. And indeed, the Florida
> Department of Education's online agenda did say that today from 9 to 11
> a.m., the board would review the practical/performing arts requirement.
>
> But interestingly, when I contacted the department, I was told the item
> would not be on the agenda this week.
>
> And besides, a public information officer told me, this was a workshop
> not a board meeting.
>
> She was unable to say if it would be taken up at the next meeting, Oct.
> 21.
>
> Just in case, it wouldn't hurt to phone (850-245-0505) or e-mail the
> board (at Commissioner@fldoe.org ) and
> tell them to keep their mitts off the journalism requirement.
>
> I'll certainly be keeping an eye on the issue.
>
> Like a 15-year-old watching a pimple.
>
> www.sun-sentinel.com/news/schools/sfl-flpralph0930pnsep30,0,2807976.column
>

Thought everyone might like to read this-


Palm Beach Post Letters to the Editor

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Your editorial "It's about the diploma" (Sept. 8) has exposed a nasty secret. GED recipients do indeed artificially inflate Florida's high school graduation rates. The Department of Education's Florida School Indicators Report claims a 72 percent versus the Education Research Center's disclosure of 58 percent.

It defies logic to not recognize the connection between a student's inability to pass the FCAT and the rising GED rates. The federal government's National Reporting System reveals that Florida's GED numbers have jumped since 2000. Many students would rather drop out of school and take the GED than face the FCAT, an exam they feel they will fail (Education Week, 2006).

And what recourse do guidance counselors or administrators have but to advise these students to do just that? When it is also recognized that such students will hurt their school's FCAT results - a determining factor in that school's grade - getting them out of their enrollment becomes a compelling option.

In Florida, students as young as 16 can take the GED. No wonder the dropout rates continue to rise. Then there's the perplexing issue of why these students can pass GED, SAT or ACT but cannot pass the FCAT. This fuels the notion that the FCAT needs an overhaul.

While there is value to standardized assessment, as it pushes students to achieve higher learning and brings about accountability of educators, it cannot be denied that a school system fails when an increasing number of its students do not get a high school diploma.

TERI PINNEY

Port St. Lucie

Editor's note: Teri Pinney is a former St. Lucie County school administrator and is registered to run for St. Lucie County school board in 2010.

emeyers:

Thank you for posting these links. It would be a good idea to re-post them every 7 days to keep this valuable info at the top this blog so other parents just joining can benefit from them as well.

Below are a list of links that have been posted previously on this site. Thought it might be worth posting again so no one has to hunt for the information-

petition to ban FCAT-

url link-community.greatschools.net/advice/129/The-Dreaded-FCAT---it-s-secretly-causing-the-demise-of-our-children-?cpage-6&cpn=Com_immediateNote#comment_170510

(if this won't come up contact writermom for a copy of the petition)

FCAT WAIVER info-

www.fldoe.org/ese/pdf/hs-fact.pdf

True facts about FCAT-(a real eye opener)

www.highschool.citymax.com/page/page/2758288.htm

The Florida Coalition for Assessment reform-(click on the "take action" tab)

www.fcarweb.org

Teacher and Parent FCAT polling sites-

school personnel:

www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=351423260023

parents:

www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=246153266525

general FCAT poll:

www.groups.yahoo.com/group/FCARFORUM/polls

Teachers petition against FCAT-

www.petitiononline.com/1teacher/petition.html

Broward county superintendant James Notter-
(write to address FCAT reform)

supt_notter@browardschools.com

Attn: ALL Florida parents of HIGH SCHOOL students:

IT'S A NEW SCHOOL YEAR..

Is your son or daughter struggling with FCAT issues?

Has your high school son or daughter failed previous FCATs?

Does your child live in fear of not graduating in 2009 due to not being able to pass the FCAT?

THERE IS HOPE!!! :-)

I am the parent of a GRADUATED high school student this past year (June 1st, 2008) who REPEATEDLY FAILED the FCAT reading portion several times.

For those of you who may NOT know:

The "ACT" test will automatically OVER-RIDE the FCAT.

I get letters all the time from parents wanting to give their child HOPE. If your child is in 9th, 10th, 11th, or even 12th grade, THERE IS HOPE.

You can find out from your child's school when the ACT will be given for your area. My son enrolled online ahead of time, and took it at a neighboring high school on a Saturday a few months prior to graduation. We paid a minimal fee of $40 for him to take the test, but in the end, it GUARANTEED he'd graduate on time with his class. He PASSED the reading portion of the ACT test, which immediately over-rided his failed FCAT reading test.

This was a GREAT BURDEN LIFTED for him once he knew he no longer had to worry about passing the dreaded FCAT. He could finally concentrate on senior activities and his core subjects.

State educators would rather we (parents) not know about this because it interferes with their FCAT numbers, but DO NOT BE INTIMIDATED.

One mother who contacted me said her son is a senior, and spoke to her about dropping out. She was very distressed over this and felt helpless. She has since enrolled him to take the ACT in October, and has been able to give him some actual hope.

If your child is a SENIOR and "thinks" they may pass the FCAT this year, encourage (or even insist) that they take the ACT as well. A very close friend of my son who was in his journalism class had no doubt she passed all of the FCAT. Only to find out weeks before graduation that she failed it. She was shocked and emotionally devastated.

What made it even worse was that my son had tried to get her to take the ACT test when he did. She felt 100% certain that she'd passed the FCAT, so she didn't feel the need to take 2 tests.

I know it's every parent's dream to watch their child walk across that stage in their cap and gown and collect their high school diploma. I was bound and determined to help my son get there. SO CAN YOU.

-Does your child want to graduate on time with their
class in 2009?

-Has your child been offered a college scholarship
already because of other talents or high GPA?

-Has your child dreamed of his/her graduation for the
past four years?

NONE OF THIS WILL MATTER IF THEY DO NOT PASS THE FCAT "OR" take the "ACT".

Ironically, the ACT test "acts" as Graduation Insurance for seniors.

DON'T LET THEM MISS OUT ON ONE OF THE MOST MEMORABLE DAYS OF THEIR LIFE.

If Justin, (my son) had NOT taken the ACT, he would have been forced to take intensive reading this past summer, and would not have graduated until August. One school official said they just mail you your diploma. How sad is that?

PLEASE...parents of HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN FLORIDA:

INFORM YOUR KIDS "N-O-W". HAVE THEM SIGN UP TO TAKE THE "ACT" test so that it will OVER-RIDE any low scores or failure of their FCAT.


Again: Please email me direct if you have any questions: girlwriter95@yahoo.com

Many thanks to all of the amazing caring parents who have had the courage to share their thoughts, stories, and pain with the rest of us through this enlightening forum.

Given the numerous responses I've had, I have decided to keep this post going until the FCAT is NO LONGER a pass/fail test, and/or it is BANNED FOR GOOD.

Knowledge is power only if you share it.

emeyers:

VERY WELL SAID.

If those stats don't fill the gaps of the skeptics who mindlessly support the FCAT I don't know what will.

BTW: I have made several attempts to post my template letter here, but for some reason, it never takes. I have asked assistance from the site's moderator with this, so I am hoping to try it again soon.

If ANY parent would like a copy of my FCAT Template Letter, PLEASE EMAIL ME DIRECT: girlwriter95@yahoo.com. I will be more than happy to email it to you.

Brat- Just because you take intensive math does not mean you still don't have to pass the test.

You will not graduate from high school if you do not pass the FCAT math, science, and reading test. You can take it 3 times but you have to pass. I think you need to read up a little more. Unless you get a waiver- which you must qualify for. You have to pass FCAT to graduate high school.

Columbian-

Standardixed tests were not designed to assess students. They were designed and are designed to address school performance. The United States expects every State in the Union to be teaching at similar rates and complexities therefore assesment tests were designed to address this concern. This is why these tests are not treated as a pass- fail determinate. You can't expect a child to pass, let's say,a biology section on a standardized test if the school does not offer biology. Is this the students fault? Florida FCAT thinks so. I too have no problem with standardized testing, but this exam should be placed on the shoulders of the educators, not the students.
There is a big difference between FCAT and other Florida standardized tests:

PSAT/SAT-
1. This test is given to show rediness for college not a high school determinate.
2. It is not a pass-fail test
3.SAT believes that a students grade point average determines graduation.
4. It is an accumulative test (like a grade point average)
5. There is no right or wrong score much like an I.Q. test (although the higher the score the more schools would be interested)
6.There is no teaching to the test which makes for a more accurate account of education standards.
7. It is written by one governing body.

ACT-
1. This is not a pass-fail test
2. It is also a college preparedness test
3. It also assumes that grade point average determines graduation.
4. It is also accumulative.
It has been written by one standardized testing committee.
5. It is used by many home-schooled students.

Stanford-
1. This is one of the most respected standardized tests in the country, it is very consistant.
2. It is not a pass-fail test
3. It believes that a students grade point average determines graduation
4. It was used to assess Florida schools for generations when our schools were going up in the standings.
5. It is still given in Florida(more by private schools)
6. It is an accumulative scoring test.
7. It has not had the controversies that FCAT has had
8. It is considered a more in depth accounting of school productivity
9. It is written by a single committee.
10. It is less expensive and time consuming than FCAT.
11.It does not teach to the test.

FCAT-
1. It is a pass fail test.
2. Each section of the test is scored separately and all must pass and each section is written by different committees (which breeds inconsistancies)
3.There has been many mis-gradings and false results causing skewed scores.
4.It does not take into account student grade point average.
5.It teaches to the test, prompting a law to stop the teaching process (schools can no longer call this FCAT preparedness so now they just teach FCAT during class)Teaching to the test promotes cheating, promoting skewed scores.

If anyone can see any similarities between these honored tests and FCAT my hats off to you. Here are some facts:

In the ten years since FCAT-
1. We have dropped to the bottom in education.
2.We have had less students graduate per capita.
3.We have had less students go on to higher education.
4.We have had the most school budget cuts in the history of the State.
5.Teachers have left Florida in groves for more supportive and better paying States.(We have a teacher shortage)
6. Our State is now reverting to an archeic system of same page teaching which stunts creativity and imagination and frustrates teachers that expect their students to rise above what is standard.
7.Don't let the politicians of this State tell you they don't have the funds for education; we are one of the wealthiest States in the Union.

colombianshona...

Point taken. However, if you were to go back and read over the 200 posts here, you would see that this blog was not created to ban all types of standardized testing. On the contrary; many parents here, (as well as myself) have had no problem with previous standardized tests that are already in place.

I originally created this blog with the hopes of obtaining some support and/or help for my son. Period. I had no idea so many other parents were undergoing the same plight as myself.

Yes, Justin graduated with his class on June 1st of this year and received his well-earned diploma. He graduated with a 4.0 GPA, including several hundred hours community service, and 17 awards, which were mostly for his journalism accomplishments. He was the Editor-in-Chief of his school's newspaper. He won "Best Newspaper" (out of every school in the state) at this FSPA competition in Tampa earlier this year.

The fact that a student with a 4.0 GPA, and Editor-in-Chief of his highschool newspaper, including 17 journalism awards can feasibly almost lose out on graduating with his class due to some lame test results still infuriates me. What's worse is that I know many other parents and students are facing the same exact thing.

There are many other forms of standardized tests in place right now that generate many of the so-called "numbers" state and educational officials need to know in order to regulate things. NO OTHER STANDARDIZED TEST has caused thousands of "A" and "B" grade students to be retained or lose their chance at graduating like the much dreaded FCAT.

In fact, NOT ONE.

The FCAT's birth was originated by a pompous and arrogant elected official who in his mind thought he created the "know-all-to-end-all" solution for his state's schools poor test scores. WHY? Because it reflected poorly on him. In the end, he only made matters a thousand times worse.

Common sense would tell us that if the FCAT was doing such a fabulously fantastic job, our state would be leading the nation in the top percentile of test scores. Sadly, we are among the nation's lowest.

Not because we don't have smart kids...

Not because are our teachers don't work hard enough...

Not because our parents don't care enough...

It's because one man decided for himself that "he knew best" for all of our children's educational needs.

Any parent will tell you they do NOT put their children's lives into the hands of a stranger willingly or knowingly. Yet, this is what every Florida parent has been forced to do with the dreaded FCAT.

THIS is why we are here.

I've been quite interested in this topic for the past several months now, although I have not been up-to-date with the recent news, starting from summer this year. Has your son graduated happily?

What is so tragic about this is that the arguments in question are seemingly of the same caliber. One argument says that standardized tests are not at all serving their function and even making things worse. The other says that standardized tests are the only way to truly assess the academic performance of several different (and disconnected) regions in a state/nation.

I feel the latter argument is true, however. Standardized tests are meant to assess the students' abilities; where countless teachers' radically different teaching methods are put to the test. I feel for your son, given his obvious high level of intelligence (i do hope everything is well), but there just isn't any other way that can truly assess your child's academic performance. Standardized tests like the FCAT come from a source outside of the high school; it comes from the state and follows what the state requires students to be able to do in tests. Quite frankly, the grades a student receives in high school courses have little substance if it is not compared to standardized tests. I know of Advanced Placement teachers at my high school who treat the class as though it were Remedial and where 80% of the class gets A+'s. This is what the makers of standardized tests fear the most, and it is the reason why they are conducted. Students not learning in school (or achieving necessary testing skills) means large sums of state-treasury money completely wasted, where the economy demands careful and meticulous use of any money it can get its hands on.

I admire your son's efforts in growing as an individual and becoming a true soldier for the greater good (i assume from the highly respectable 800 hours of community service), and i have very little doubt he will be a prominent and influential figure where ever he goes, but the FCAT tells people of their strengths and weaknesses, and the skills required for any standardized tests transcend just skills in knowledge; these tests attack the very core of us. We are put on the spot to produce a high score - a mere number that seems inconsequential in life but that nonetheless shows how well you manage yourself when under pressure.

I just had to write this after reading and experiencing the very thick bias that was incorporated into your topic, which is very understandable when you realize it is the mother in distress for her child. But i believe that there should have definitely been a more open-minded tone to this rather than blatantly arguing against Standardized tests or the FCAT specifically without considering the necessity of such tests. In the end, we are forced to prioritize and become as productive and successful as we can be, and overcome obstacles that come our way. I feel your son should have received direct, professional help from those who administer the FCAT, much like the help students get from the SAT classes. It saddens me to know that your son is very capable of 800 hours of service, which could be figured out by coming into contact with him, but that he was unable to input just as many hours into gaining the skills necessary to ace the FCAT.

brat198...

Unfortunately, not all things are created equal. One of the reasons I created this blog was due to the fact that my very intelligent son was repeatedly failing the reading portion of the FCAT each year; thus, then being thrown into "intensive reading classes" to somehow benefit him when the next FCAT rolled around.

In reality, it only created havoc on his schedule. 3 of his core classes were initially dropped, due to this early in high school, only to find out his senior year he had to ADD all of them to his already hectic schedule in order to GRADUATE ON TIME. If he did not go to night school, AND take the required classes ONLINE his senior year, he never would have graduated with his class.

What's even worse? The intensive reading classes are a JOKE. I have spoken to a 30 year veteran school teacher, and he has confessed as much, along with his annoyance with FCAT preparations that constantly interrupt with his core classes he's required to teach.

If your mother is a school teacher, then she is already familiar with these frustrations I'm sure, especially if it affects her pay-rate. However, there is no guarantee that a student who takes "intensive reading" classes will benefit in ANY area, as this class was put in place for those who fail FCAT reading.

The FCAT "IS" a pass/fail test because it mandates every single student's ability to either graduate OR be promoted to their next grade level INSTEAD of it being based on their over-all GPA in ALL studies.

Before FCAT came along, MANY things were taken into consideration pertaining to a student passing or failing a grade level. Now, the only thing mandating this IS *FCAT*.

Yes. Other alternatives are just now getting out thanks to some very frustrated parents, and forums such as this. However, the FCAT has been in place now for how many years??

The creator of FCAT and state educators of Florida do not want this information to get out because then it will showcase THEM as failures and screw up their numbers. In my opinion: it's political BS to a fault.

If Tallahassee had our children's best interest at heart, they'd have made sure that ALL Florida parents could seek other options for their children IF they did fail the FCAT. However, this is not the case, nor has it EVER BEEN. It's frustrating parents at their wits end who are searching high and low to do whatever they can to help their kids get through school and succeed without having a major meltdown.

These parents on here deserve medals after some of the endless brick walls they constantly hit, yet STILL they proceed to move forward and search for an answer to HELP THEIR CHILD.

This is something you will never understand until you have one of your own and are faced with watching them suffer for no reason.

BTW...emeyer's child she speaks of is a daughter..

emyers- I understand you complaints about the FCAT.
Along with the budget as well. My mother is a school teacher and for the last couple of years she has gotten the A+ money, as the schools call it. The teachers get this money by showing that their children have made improvements from the previous years. However, this year my mother taught ESOL, they too had to take the FCAT; and their scores directly influenced my mothers pay-check at the end of the year. Also, being that my mother teachers science, the state does not determine whether she gets the money by the science FCAT but by the reading scores of the FCAT; which she has no control over. Plus, being that her students were ESOL, they did very poor in the reading department. =(
I have to disagree with you on one thing; the FCAT is not a pass-fail test. All the big-shots in Tallahassee may believe it is but it is not. If you do not pass the test, you will either take intensive reading or math the next year. Obviously if you are a junior or senior in highscool, the FCAT scores will effect you more so than other grade levels. But I do believe there are other alternatives to the FCAT test. ( as some of the other posts have pointed out )

I hope your son found some other way. =)

I still have years of test stress ahead of me. The schools always throw curves at you. One person says one thing, another one says something else. It seems to be less of a conspiracy and more stupidity on the part of educators. Tallahassee doesn't tell much more to its people than it does to us.

Writermom,
Could you post your petition again. It's been awhile and I'm not sure some of the new posters are aware of it.

emeyers...

YEAH FOR YOU & your daughter!!!! I am SO THRILLED for BOTH of you. I know how stressed you've been over this...I felt the exact same way once I learned that Justin could take the ACT to replace any failed FCAT scores. It was a great burden lifted. I'm sure your daughter will do GREAT.

I have just been informed by a teacher at my daughter's school that the PSAT can be used as an alternative to the FCAT to graduate. I was not aware of this. The PSAT is slightly easier to pass because it is an accumulative score, but it is not a pass-fail test.
I'm not sure when my daughter will actually learn anything this year since the Math and Science FCAT and PSAT are taken this year but ther seems to be a little light at the end of the tunnel.

Dear Brat- The FCAT IS a pass-fail test. You are correct that it was written not to be a pass-fail test; but Florida with all its wisdom turned it into a pass fail -test. I don't believe I am a whiner, on the contrary, I hate whiners as much as you do. If you go back several pages you see I have stated very clearly what the situation is after extensive research. Many of us have listed sites to help parents in trouble with FCAT and this very site was set up so that parents could sign a petition to rid us of this test. Whiners very seldom have any solutions- we do. We are educated to the real facts of FCAT and we demand change.

As to your second comment about the money we pour into schools. We spend less tax money on education than just about any State in the union. We may be 48th in education but we are right at the bottom for teacher salaries. When we voted to get that gambling money, the State then cut the budget for schools by a third. Many well meaning parents voted for that thinking that it would be additional money. Levi's and bonds continually fail and bills that pass do not get funded (like the 5% teacher salary increase that the State misappropriated). Now FCAT determines whether schools recieve income. That is the true reason we have FCAT. We already had the Stanford assesment test so ther was no good reason to bring in the FCAT, (a test, as you all know, is owned by Jeb Bush's brother).You are correct that money doesn't get spent wisely. Why aren't you doing something about that? We do have a say, but we have to speak up. It isn't whining it is our right. We need an accounting of where our education dollars are spent.

It doesn't matter if you have a child can pass the FCAT ; it doesn't matter if you have a child. What matters is that we have children that get a solid education and that grow up to be productive citizens of Florida. This effects everyone.

First of all you are not a parent, so what do you know about a parents concerns. Wait until you become one and then let's see what your opinion of the FCAT will be then. It is o.k. to have an opinion about something but it is not o.k. to discredit what other people are having to endure when you know absolutely nothing about there situation.
Now let me school you. If your child is ESE and on normal pupil progression he or she has to take the FCAT and has to pass the FCAT in order to make it to the next grade. The FCAT does not take into consideration that your child has a learning disability or reading disability. The only real accommodations that are made is when the child has a significantly low IQ. At this time the child can take an alternative test. Most children with learning and reading disabilities do not have low IQ's. Therefore, they are caught in a hang zone. They can't read well enough to pass the test yet are required to take the test and fail. They then have to stay a year back in that grade and at the end of the next school year are allowed to have a "good cause promotion".
Evidently your blues are not like my blues. This is a serious forum for people that have serious complaints and concerns and not a place for you to dish out your one-sided-ness.
By the way who cares whether you are a Democrat or Republican. That is totally irrelevant to this topic.
I suppose when you passed the FCAT, the word impairment was not on the test, because you definitely got the spelling of that one wrong.

For all you parents and students,teachers that love the fcat and can't see what it is doing to the others and the back up in classrooms,so let it be.I thank you all for leaving some kids behind and keeping older students in school that should have been gone 3 or 4 years ago,they are contaminating our young kids that are coming into schools,with their threating and picking on the younger students.we need to find some solution how to get older kids out of school with a good and proper education because I know the older kids are hurting our young kids.GET OLDER KIDS OUT OF SCHOOL WITH A DIPLOMA,so our young kids can get a good education.I can write more but I see grannies and popas still going to school on grant and gov. money when they need to get a good job.how is students today is going to get a good job with out a diploma.if they get rid of the fcat more students can get jobs and get into colleges and make a good life for themself.I am a parent that hate the fcat test because I see the damage it is doing to a lot of kids.NO GOOD FUTURE.

emyers we as parents have no say so about our kids education so why keep pouring money into a sinking whole.the lotto,and our tax money,and extras we give our kids to go to school for what,after 12 years of paying the schools money and our kids get no high school diploma.sorry pta won't get no more of my money untill the fcat test is gone out of our schools.ALL THE MONEY I PUT INTO SCHOOLS AND MY SON WALKED OUT WITHOUT HIS DIPLOMA.NO MORE.LOL

I think we all, as parents, need to let our schools know that we will determine whether are children are getting a proper education. We do this by-

PAYING FOR QUALITY TEACHERS- YOU WANT THEM; YOU HAVE TO PAY THEM!
1. Conveying our concerns at PTA/PTO meetings
2. Volunteering at our schools
3. Expecting good grades and hard work from our children
4. Being an advocate for our children; making sure they receive the proper assistance they are entitled to.
5. Calling our school boards, districts, and State Councils.
6.Changing schools if the one we are at is not living up to the standard we expect.
7. home schooling
8. private schools
9. moving to a better school district
10. moving to a better rated State.....

GET THE PICTURE

Great eduction translates to dollars pouring into the State; poor education watches dollars pour out of the State.

Giving money to schools that have higher grades from an extremely flawed test just spreads the ever dwindling education dollars around, giving the illusion of wealth. We don't actually have to improve the quality of education materials, educators, or technologies as long as we keep playing the numbers game.

And quit whining Florida; we know you have tons of surplus cash. You can afford better education. Wake up citizens of Florida, just because your children are grown up doesn't mean you shouldn't support education reform- Pick one, a kid in school getting quality education or a drop out breaking into your house; or better yet how about your tax dollars going to support the welfare state. Your tax dollars for education translate to productive citizens. Let's all look at the big picture, shall we.

Cool Dad,
Totally preaching to the choir here, but there are differences in standardized testing. #1- not all standardized tests are pass-fail for the students. Some states are more concerned whether their schools are living up to an arbitrary standard and allow grade point average to determine whether a child passes or fails.

Unfortunately they are not planning to take it out of grade schools and high schools; they just plan on adding it to state colleges; which is totally rediculous.

There are many articles on this subject on the net- Type in college FCATs and you should find information. I also saw a peice on my local news about this, which first alerted me. Oddly enough, we have some of the best state schools in the country and many of the schools are rightly concerned on how this is going to effect their enrollment.

The standardized test by which SCHOOLS are grade under the No Child Left Behind Act [and prior legislation] are not SECRETLY destroying our schools, children and community. They are doing it OPENLY - but most folks believe the school system of their state when told that it is in the best interest of the children. This could not be further from the truth.

FCAT, MCAS, or [insert your state and standardized test acronym here] - they are all the same. They are based on a dissertation written by a graduate student who thought they had come up with a way to ensure that schools were not failing our children. In the process, the resulting standardized test is doing just that.

EVERY school in the United States must, by law, teach to the test. But most schools will deny that they are doing so. But, the school's funding is based on whether or not their students pass the standardized test. So, what do YOU think the schools are REALLY doing?!!

We need to realize that this concept made a great dissertation topic, but a horrible education policy.

emyers you say fl. might consider getting rid of the fcat in the schools and putting it in colleges.where did you get this info from?WriterMom I would love to read this I can't find it,please up date on page.they should have never put the fcat in schools.colleges yes,and I wonder what are they going to do about all the children that have got all of their credits without a high school diploma that have left schools.boy can't the system screw up bad.I could have told them the out come of the fcat testing at the meeting before they even inforce this in our schools.VERY BAD DECISION.

Hey writermom- maybe it's time to post that info again about your petition for those who may not have scrolled back far enough.

Florida is seriously considering sending FCAT to state colleges. This is no longer just a gradeschool/high school issue.

Figure this out-
My daughter did better than 52% of the state in math and yet she missed the magic number to pass by 2 points. Now the state says if you don't pass you must take remedial math, and yet my daughter was not placed into that because her score was "marginal".(and also I don't think they had the man-power to put 48% of the students into remedial classes).

I'm O.K. with them leaving her out of remedial. She gets B's in regular classes. However, I did realize that she might not pass even before we got the report back. That being the case we made sure that she signed up for math classes, that would help her in the areas she did the worst in on the test, for the first semester so she would have plenty of time to brush up before the test.

So the guidence council, in all their wisdom, put her math class that she needed in the second semester (which gives her only 5 weeks to study before the test) and no math in the first semester. Which means my daughter will not have had any math for over 6 months.

Well to make a long story short; my daughter's school is now providing a private tutor at their expense. This took me 4 weeks to accomplish. The point here is don't give up on the school. Your child has rights and you should have certain expectations even in a state that's 48th.

I think many of you are finding out you have more power than you think. School's often spew out edicts like they are gospel and we just say O.K. like they are the all knowing Oz. Well, we know who Oz turned out to be- just a person. Tap your inner Dorothy (brain, heart, courage) and get moving!

Maybe when our state becomes the 50th worst state in the country we will have some amo to use to get rid of this thing.

Double Amen! My son has always struggled with the FCAT. He fails it every year, so the following year he gets an extensive reading class along with his regular reading class. You would think after 4 years of extensive classes, he would either pass the FCAT or catch up to his reading level. Neither has happened. I wish they would take this test out of the curriculum. I think our kids have suffered enough!

I asked a teacher yesterday how a student is supposed to pass Science FCAT. There are so many different schools of science and biology may be taken freshman year, physics next year, and so on. The teacher responded that the science teachers would touch on all the science areas of study during their classes. What? My daughter is going to study physics in biology class? When I commented that it is now illegal in Florida to, "teach to the test", he pointed out that they don't do that. They just make sure that each student gets a well rounded veiw of science. I pointed out that I would rather my daughter get an intensive view of biology.

This seems to be a good example of how our children are getting less information that they need in order to pass a failed assesment test. Even if your child does not have any learning disabilities, how can he be expected to answer questions on subjects he does not study. Cramming does not initiate high test scores.

Has the school board forgotten that they require a student to declare a major their freshman year. The child is required to take so much in their feild of study, which is increasingly difficult with added FCAT requirements. I assume that if the school board wanted our children to know what they want to be when entering high school then they are old enough to decide on which FCAT subject they need to concentrate on. If FCAT tests are designed to see if a student is proficiant in a subject then FCAT misses the mark. Let's look at math- proficiancy should be whether you know your times tables, percentages, and fractions. I think we all can agree that most people can get through life well with this basic knowledge. Proficiancy is not complex algebraic word problems, statistics and analysis, and frankly problems that I didn't see till college. This test does not grade proficiancy.
How can a science FCAT grade proficiancy? Are you concidered proficiant if you have extensive knowledge in Astronomy, or are you proficiant if you are a biology wiz? Is a doctor proficiant in Astronomy? What is science proficiancy?
English is the only subject that I can even conceive of as possible in a proficiancy test. We all agree that by the time you are in High School you should be at an adult level of reading and writing. This would not differ no matter the class. This is perhaps why some parents believe the English test is so much easier than the others. I know why Florida does not score well on this test. They do not require grammer and spelling in this state. It is usually squeezed in and sprinkled about, but not studied extensively. Florida Writes does not even require correct spelling! What is that about? A writing test that does not require correct spelling!

As I have stated many times, an assesment test without correcting the findings is useless. We need to stop "beating a dead horse" and move on and up. Expect more-get more.

Amen. I could not have said it better. If children like your child, who has a 4.0 grade point average, are struggling with the FCAT, then what do you think my son who has Aspergers will have to endure. The FCAT is institutionalized segregation. Those that pass it are put in an elite class by themselves and go on to live there lives as they choose and those who fail face the detriment of having to remain in school more years regardless of all there work efforts they have put forth. The FCAT rule, does not reflect our schools and school teacher at there best. It reduces everything to a simple piece of paper with no explanation nor compassion for what may be going on inside your child's mind. It makes the child a score and not a person. Yet, all the complaints from parents, and nothing is done.
The penalty for failure is to great. Encourage your son as I do. As John Maxwell writes, "take the u out of failure". Ensure that he knows that failing at something is an isolated incident. It does not make him a failure. I have to reinforce this with my son all the time.

I always thought that my daughter's study habits and grades were preparing her for life. What does a standardized test have to do with life.
Life is full of choices that we make, good or bad; there is no choice here. A student chooses to work hard or not, FCAT null and voids their choices. In life we walk away from situations that are contrary to the way we want to live; when you walk away from FCAT, you go without a diploma, then what kind of "life" will you have.

In a roundabout way this may prepare your son for life as it doesnt always make sense either. My son (Patrick) is in 9th grade in Orlando I guess he'll have to face it soon too......sigh.

O.K., here's the bottom line on FCAT-

It doesn't matter if you think it's a good idea or not-
It doesn't matter if your child will pass or not-
It doesn't even matter if you have kids school age or not-

Florida schools have dropped in the national average 4 years running-

4 years in a row we have been at the bottom of the heap-

we are 48th out of fifty states-

When are we going to learn that taking a test over and over again is not going to improve education; just point out over and over again our shortcomings.

Florida refuses to listen to the message that standardized testing is telling us-

We are below average on SAT
We are below average on ACT
What made them think that FCAT was going to say anything different.

We effectively keep trying to find a test that will tell us that we are not below average. If we find such a test then we do not have to actually sink money into improving education. I assume everyone sees the error in this thought.

Those of us that care about education see what is going on. The educators, parents, and media, are on to you! We know exactly what needs to be done-

Smaller classes, as Joe Biden has been pushing for;

Better pay for teachers, which the National Press has pointed out;

More up-to-date cirriculim and technology; which schools have been begging for;

Customized assistance for students which parents can rely on.

So now we have spent millions testing the heck out of our school system and have thouroughly identified the problem. Are we just going to keep getting tested year after year? This makes no sense. Are we going to continue to penalize our students for the state's dismall 48th place standing? The citizens of Florida should expect more from Tallahassee than tests, we want results. This effects every student whether they pass FCAT or not. In fact for every child that passes FCAT it makes it that much harder for money to go where it is needed. Just imagine, if every student passed, the state of Florida would feel no need to better the system at all. We would raise our standings from 48th to 1st without having any better education, because we would all no the real reason they passed was not because education improved, not because we have better educators, not because the cirriculim is any better, but because we crammed like crazy for the test!

If every parent stood up and said,"My child will not take FCAT"; what would the school system do? Would they deny every child in Florida a diploma? Think what that would do to their precious numbers.

I'm not trying to be radical here, although I know it sounds it. There was a time when parents had control of the school boards. There was a time when we shaped the way our children learned. Without a single law being passed we gave up that control to the schools. I believe with all my heart that this is a mistake. Florida has the highest per capita home school rate in the country, our private schools have long waiting lists. This seems to be an indication that parents are asserting themselves. It's time to take back our public schools as well. We have that right and we should assert it; after all , we are the ones paying for public education, (emphisize "PUBLIC")

One more thing I would like to address because I am getting tired of hearing this excuse as a reason for Standardized testing.

Yes I know that students will have to participate in testing all their academic lives. But if you notice tests like SAT's focus on the total score of the test, not it's individual units. They realize, I assume as do most parents, that no child is perfect in every area and that a overall score can show whether your child has an acceptable overall education. Since my child isn't planning to be a brain surgeon/mathmatician/poet lareate/ astronaut I think that is good enough.

My daughter has been to private schools, magnet schools, and charter schools. She did well in all of them. Private schools have just become too expensive, even with assistance and the school she attends now is the best school in the county, maybe the state. Believe me, I would have kept her in private schools but the private high schools here start at about 15,000 per year and even with aide we couldn't swing that. We would have to dip into her college fund (which might work if she gets Bright futures, but now that it looks like FCAT will follow her to state colleges we are not likely to go that route.) Truly we do not fit into any safe-haven catagory. My daughter is too smart, but not smart enough, too poor, but not poor enough, We are totally in no-mans-land when it comes to requirements. I'm starting to think that I asked too much when I asked my daughter to work hard. If I didn't expect so much then the school system would probably let her off the hook. In Florida being smart and overcoming shortcomings is not rewarded.
I have stated previously that I have worked very hard to ensure that my daughter had the best education in a state that is 48th in national education. We moved to our location because this counties education record was much higher than the state average. I get mad when I think that I am going to have to pull her from one of the best high schools in Florida so that she can avoid the FCAT. I have never settled for mediocre but that is what many parents are having to do in order to avoid this. If she doesn't pass math this year she will not be sharing her senior year with her friends and teachers that she loves, too sad.
I'm beginning to think that all those law suites that parents are bringing to there school boards is the way to go. Over ten years of FCAT and our schools are worse than ever. The school's bring so much wait on testing and school quality, then we should hold them to it. If my daughter fails FCAT, after mandatory remedial and tutoring through the school then they should be held accountable. Suing a school system for not doing its job seems fair. After all they won't be able to bring up good grades to prove they did their jobs, since they don't count towards graduation.

emeyers;

You still have the option of home-schooling your daughter, or place her in a private school. I know tuition is high for some private schools. My kids have had all 3 types of educations, home-school, private, and public. However, there are good church affiliated schools that offer tuition assistance. Shop around and ask questions. We would often volunteer at our kids' school, and our hours were counted toward tuition costs.

On the brighter side; kids with learning disabilities often thrive in a home-school environment, and the state doesn't interfere with your chosen curriculum. Nor do they mandate any type of testing.

My daughter had learning disabilities all through her school years. What made it even more maddening is the fact that NO ONE could pinpoint exactly WHAT they were. Although at one point, they discovered she was dyslexic. That didn't help much. She'd still fail 9 out of 10 tests she'd take. She always had to overcompensate with extra credit work to get her GPA up because her test grades were so poor. That's when I pulled her out of the private school, and placed her in a good public school.

She thrived, but I believe it was due to the wonderful teacher she had at the time. That was 5th grade. When she graduated from 5th grade, I decided to home-school her for 6th and 7th. She did absolutely fantastic. I created quizes that engaged her thought process in a way that made it easier for her to retain what she was learning. Apparently, it worked. Her father and I got her involved with the Museum of Discover and Science in Fort Lauderdale. She became the youngest volunteer ever to "work" there. When she reached her 100 hour mark, she was presented wtih an award by the Director. She learned more there than she'd ever learn from some science book.
(she got into tanks with sharks, even handheld a nurse shark while it got a shot.)

At the end of each school year, I had her evaluated by a certified teacher of our county, and she passed with flying colors, along with being advanced to the next grade level.

Her 8th grade year was horrible. Much to my regret, I placed her in a local middle school, but it may as well have been a juvenile detention center. It was run like a prison, and the teachers were horrific. Her 8th grade teacher permitted students to watch the Jerry Springer Show during final exams, among other things. At one point I threatened a lawsuit due to the fact that 2 female students were relentlessly harassing my daughter, and stalking her on school grounds while not in class. (The girls were finally reprimanded and the school police officer kind enough to watch out for my daughter's safety) I was ALWAYS in their front office complaining about something. Now that I look back, I wish I'd have pulled her from that school right then and there.

Coulda, woulda, shoulda...

Right after she graduated from 8th grade, we learned that a teacher at that school had his computer confiscated after they found child pornography on it.

The irony was that on their sign out front read: School of Excellence! And was awarded money for being one of the "BEST SCHOOLS" in the country. To keep other parents from putting their kids in that sorry excuse of a school, I created 200 fliers on that teacher, along with the local newspaper article about him, and hand-delivered each one to homes throughout the surrounding neighborhood close to that school. Evidently, I later learned that this entire episode took place at the beginning of my daughter's 8th grade year, but the school kept it in a 'hush hush' state until summer.

That summer we discussed what to do about Jessica for high school. Her GPA was high enough to get her into a local magnate school, actually one I graduated from. She was thrilled. The only problem was that this school had just opened 2 years prior to her going there, so they were still trying to get things organized. She came home with tons of homework nightly that would keep her busy well up to 10:00 or later.

I also didn't like that they did not have a true P.E. Class. They offered no physical activities whatsoever. The teacher basically taught P.E. "out of book." It was ludicrous.

Again, she had trouble with the tests. I spoke with all of her teachers about her learning process, and I found them to be very supportive. My daughter is not lazy, she's very outgoing, and bubbly..always anxious to learn. Her 'learning disabilities' frustrated her many times, but I'd always come back with an alternate way for her to learn something, even if it meant going to her teacher and telling them how to teach her.

She got thru 9th grade but it was very difficult, and as the year went on, it became overwhelming to the point where she'd become physically ill. I couldn't see putting her thru 3 more years of that. I let her finish 9th, and then home-schooled her for the last 3. She has since, gotten her GED, but not without substantial difficulty and hard work. She attended a 6 week class to prepare, but she did it!

My daughter just turned 25 years old. She's been living in Idaho for the past several years and she loves it. She's become independent and quite resilient. She knows how to change a flat tire, (keeps all her own tools in her trunk) she can change the oil in her car, she even carries around her own spark plugs in case one goes out.

Jess currently works as a heath care provider for a retirement home, and cuts people's hair on the side. She's also become an animal rights advocate for her town because they don't have laws to protect animals out there like they do here. Local kids have been known to set cats on fire and watch them burn alive. Whenever my daughter calls the police, they tell her there's nothing they can do because there's nothing on the books saying they "can't do that sort of thing."

For those of you who have children with learning disabilities and/or a child who's always struggling in school, don't give up on them. Even moreso: don't let them see your frustration when THEY are frustrated. They need to know we'll fight for them and support them with whatever they CAN do, not focus on what they cannot do.

Weigh all your options carefully, and discuss them with your daughter. During the times I chose to pull my kids from a school in order to homeschool them, created an abundance of relief all the way around. I did it when I was married and a stay-at-home-mom, and after I divorced, worked full time and became a single parent. It CAN be done, and the rewards are priceless.

Give a child a reason to believe in themselves and they will truly surprise you. Give them the tools "they need" to succeed and they will find it within themselves to reach for the stars.

emeyers;

You still have the option of home-schooling your daughter, or place her in a private school. I know tuition is high for some private schools. My kids have had all 3 types of educations, home-school, private, and public. However, there are good church affiliated schools that offer tuition assistance. Shop around and ask questions. We would often volunteer at our kids' school, and our hours were counted toward tuition costs.

On the brighter side; kids with learning disabilities often thrive in a home-school environment, and the state doesn't interfere with your chosen curriculum. Nor do they mandate any type of testing.

My daughter had learning disabilities all through her school years. What made it even more maddening is the fact that NO ONE could pinpoint exactly WHAT they were. Although at one point, they discovered she was dyslexic. That didn't help much. She'd still fail 9 out of 10 tests she'd take. She always had to overcompensate with extra credit work to get her GPA up because her test grades were so poor. That's when I pulled her out of the private school, and placed her in a good public school.

She thrived, but I believe it was due to the wonderful teacher she had at the time. That was 5th grade. When she graduated from 5th grade, I decided to home-school her for 6th and 7th. She did absolutely fantastic. I created quizes that engaged her thought process in a way that made it easier for her to retain what she was learning. Apparently, it worked. Her father and I got her involved with the Museum of Discover and Science in Fort Lauderdale. She became the youngest volunteer ever to "work" there. When she reached her 100 hour mark, she was presented wtih an award by the Director. She learned more there than she'd ever learn from some science book.
(she got into tanks with sharks, even handheld a nurse shark while it got a shot.)

At the end of each school year, I had her evaluated by a certified teacher of our county, and she passed with flying colors, along with being advanced to the next grade level.

Her 8th grade year was horrible. Much to my regret, I placed her in a local middle school, but it may as well have been a juvenile detention center. It was run like a prison, and the teachers were horrific. Her 8th grade teacher permitted students to watch the Jerry Springer Show during final exams, among other things. At one point I threatened a lawsuit due to the fact that 2 female students were relentlessly harassing my daughter, and stalking her on school grounds while not in class. (The girls were finally reprimanded and the school police officer kind enough to watch out for my daughter's safety) I was ALWAYS in their front office complaining about something. Now that I look back, I wish I'd have pulled her from that school right then and there.

Coulda, woulda, shoulda...

Right after she graduated from 8th grade, we learned that a teacher at that school had his computer confiscated after they found child pornography on it.

The irony was that on their sign out front read: School of Excellence! And was awarded money for being one of the "BEST SCHOOLS" in the country. To keep other parents from putting their kids in that sorry excuse of a school, I created 200 fliers on that teacher, along with the local newspaper article about him, and hand-delivered each one to homes throughout the surrounding neighborhood close to that school. Evidently, I later learned that this entire episode took place at the beginning of my daughter's 8th grade year, but the school kept it in a 'hush hush' state until summer.

That summer we discussed what to do about Jessica for high school. Her GPA was high enough to get her into a local magnate school, actually one I graduated from. She was thrilled. The only problem was that this school had just opened 2 years prior to her going there, so they were still trying to get things organized. She came home with tons of homework nightly that would keep her busy well up to 10:00 or later.

I also didn't like that they did not have a true P.E. Class. They offered no physical activities whatsoever. The teacher basically taught P.E. "out of book." It was ludicrous.

Again, she had trouble with the tests. I spoke with all of her teachers about her learning process, and I found them to be very supportive. My daughter is not lazy, she's very outgoing, and bubbly..always anxious to learn. Her 'learning disabilities' frustrated her many times, but I'd always come back with an alternate way for her to learn something, even if it meant going to her teacher and telling them how to teach her.

She got thru 9th grade but it was very difficult, and as the year went on, it became overwhelming to the point where she'd become physically ill. I couldn't see putting her thru 3 more years of that. I let her finish 9th, and then home-schooled her for the last 3. She has since, gotten her GED, but not without substantial difficulty and hard work. She attended a 6 week class to prepare, but she did it!

My daughter just turned 25 years old. She's been living in Idaho for the past several years and she loves it. She's become independent and quite resilient. She knows how to change a flat tire, (carrys all her own tools in her trunk) she can change the oil in her car, she even carries around her own spark plugs in case one goes out.

Jess currently works as a heath care provider for a retirement home, and cuts people's hair on the side. She's also become an animal rights advocate for her town because they don't have laws to protect animals out there like they do here. Local kids have been known to set cats on fire and watch them burn alive. Whenever my daughter calls the police, they tell her there's nothing they can do because there's nothing on the books saying they "can't do that sort of thing."

For those of you who have children with learning disabilities and/or a child who's always struggling in school, don't give up on them. Even moreso: don't let them see your frustration when THEY are frustrated. They need to know we'll fight for them and support them with whatever they CAN do, not focus on what they cannot do.

Weigh all your options carefully, and discuss them with your daughter. During the times I chose to pull my kids from a school in order to homeschool them, created an abundance of relief all the way around. I did it when I was married and a stay-at-home-mom, and after I divorced, worked full time and became a single parent. It CAN be done, and the rewards are priceless.

Give a child a reason to believe in themselves and they were truly surprise you. Give them the tools "they need" to succeed and they will find it within themselves to reach for the stars.

Writermom I hope your son is not planning to go to a Florida state school. You know they are planning to give the college students FCAT now.
So much for all they complaining. Tallahassee knows we all love FCAT so much that they plan on expanding it
definately TAX DOLLARS

Unfortunately, the math FCAT must be taken a student's sophomore year, so the ACT won't help much for math. As far as I could tell from the ACT math test questions, they are even more difficult for math than the FCAt. The ACT is a college prep test not a high school evaluation. I seriously doubt my daughter would pass that any better. If the ACT had a comprehensive score for the entire test I am sure she would do well (much like the SAT). I might have her take the test if she doesn't pass this year but I believe if your child does have a serious learning disability in a certain area of study then there needs to be a separate remedial test that they can take. Currently it is "sink or swim". You either are able to pass or you are able to get an exemption under extreme cases of disability. If you have a specific borderline problem like my daughter you do not qualify for exemption and there is no where to turn.

Attention: All Florida Parents of HIGH SCHOOL students.....

Click on link below. It's a first hand account of what my son went through in order to graduate with his class ON TIME. He graduated on June 1st, 2008 with his class IN SPITE of many educators saying he WOULD NOT.

I would encourage every parent of a high schooler to read this blog.

There is an ALTERNATIVE to taking the FCAT that ALL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS SHOULD KNOW:

community.greatschools.net/advice/595/A-way-to-NOT-take-the-FCAT--?cpage=1#comment_234978

Good luck!!

emeyers:

Go Here:
community.greatschools.net/advice/595/A-way-to-NOT-take-the-FCAT--?cpage=1#comment_234978

My son has posted his own blog to address high school students about taking the ACT test as a way to secure their graduation even if they fail FCAT. For some reason, not many students even know this. (NOR do the parents.) I assume it's because if they did, then none of them would make an honest effort to pass the FCAT, thus further hindering Tallahassee's efforts to "grade" each school accordingly.

I'm not aware of any similar tests that may be available for junior-high or elementary age students as far as retaining a child. Although I would encourage every parent in the state of Florida to inquire about this at their child's school.

ACT portion? I guess I'm stupid; what is that?
Writer Mom where are you on that petition and is there anything else you might need help with?

emeyers:
TAX DOLLARS.

If it wasn't just about the money, our kids wouldn't be dropping out, nor would straight A students be "retained", nor would seniors be refused their God-given right to graduate on time with their class after four long years of hard work.

What I have YET to understand is this:

WHY do they offer $$$ to the "A" schools instead of a failing school??? Do we go up to a person who's wearing a $5,000 Armani suit driving a Porsche and offer him cash to "help him out"??

NO.

We give money to the poor, homeless person who has no place to rest his head.

If this test was "only" about the education, then our kids would NOT be refused an education based on test results pertaining to something they've NEVER been taught, yet were forced to cram for to suit this state's politician-of-the-moment stance.

Jeb Bush needs to step up to the plate and be man enough to admit he MADE A MISTAKE in allowing the FCAT to mandate whether or not a student passes or graduates.

For those kids who were already struggling with their studies and disliked school: NOW THEY HATE SCHOOL. For those kids who excelled in their academics and loved school, now think: WHY BOTHER?

The scary part here is that what the politicians DO NOT realize is that they are creating countless potential drop-outs who in turn will see no hope for their futures, thus resorting to selling/doing drugs, and/or other crimes in order to "get by".

Is this what they want for our children?

WAKE UP TALLAHASSEE!

For those of you who have kids in high school, my son has posted his own blog on here. You can view it by clicking on this link:
community.greatschools.net/advice/595/A-way-to-NOT-take-the-FCAT--?cpage=1#comment_234978

In it he offers hope and support to those students still facing FCAT anxiety.

emyers:

I totally understand your frustration. I remember watching my son back in April of this year.. I found him sitting on his bed staring into space one morning with his head down, shoulders down...looking depressed and overwhelmed. He said the same thing to me: "Why am I working so hard to get straight A's if I can't pass the FCAT? He was about to go to Tampa for FSPA; state journalism competition.

Something in me just snapped. I was LIVID.

I requested an emergency meeting with his school's principal, but was put off twice. When the man finally returned my call, he STILL refused to meet with me, I began with asking him, "how can I help my son, is there someone at the school I can talk to?"

Before I could even get the words out, he became defensive and abusive to the point of telling me that, "You know your son is NOT going to graduate in June with his class don't you!?" When I asked him why he'd even say such a thing to me, he only became more beligerent. When I told him that's not why I was calling, he refused to listen (or permit me to speak) so I hung up.

I then wrote a very detailed letter to the Superintendent of Schools for my county letting him know verbatum what was said in that phone conversation. I also faxed a copy to my son's school.

Needless to say, I received an immediate response from the principal's immediate supervisor. She apologized for his behavior, and did not make excuses for him. (I was surprised, and even impressed)

Then she did something that absolutely amazed me: She LISTENED.

In the end, she said that my son's principal was "being dealt with" and that his behavior was inexcusible.

This woman went out of her way to collect all of the information on my son she could to let me know where he stood 'graduation-wise'. She was very studious about calling me back and even emailing me. She said that as long as Justin passed his ACT reading portion, it would over-ride a failed FCAT score on the same subject. She also made sure that all of his teachers were inputting the correct results of his grades and scores.

End result: Justin did fail the FCAT yet again. However, he passed the ACT portion required, and thus, was told he could graduate. And THAT HE DID:

On June 1, 2008, Justin graduated with a 4.0 GPA, and 17 AWARDS, including over 800 community service hours.

As he shook the principal's hand upon receiving his diploma, Justin told him, "You owe my mother an apology" then kept walking.

The principal was later fired.

I rest my case.

You know my girls go threw the same. But what I do different is that I dont beat them with ridicul. I Go to their schools and find out what is going on. I have found that their teachers are rude with them two have learning disabilities and the other is fine. Not sure what brain came up with all these testing systems. But they need to get a clue. Not all student learn the same nor do they test the same. Their is no real accurate/fair way of testing chldren at any age. But there are alternate ways of testing. I can not recall the test name(There are many) but if you inquire with the school Psycolgist they can better determine the appropriate test that will suit your child..

I have a question- How many of you out there think FCAT is about education or tax dollars?

I have a solution and so do many parents. I have never been a proponent of getting rid of FCAT. Fcat was designed in Texas to assess the schools. It was designed to make sure that the schools were keeping up with quality, books, teachers, and technologies. We realized that having schools with cirriculim written in the 1950's might be detrimental to the students. As a school assessment tool the FCAT may be as good as some and worse than others; but at least it is an attempt to improve the quality of education.

The FCat was never designed as a pass-fail instrument. As I have said many times, when it became clear to the state that schools were not rallying to the scores that they received on FCAT then they decided to put the responsibility onto the student. How can any standardized test expect a student to score high on the FCAT if the school has not or is not planning to teach certain areas of study to a student. One quarter of the freshman FCAT math test was on Geometry which was not offered till sophomore year. Needless to say my daughter did terrible on the geometry part. Cramming to the test does nothing to secure accurate grades. SAT's are given senior year, which is logical because presumably the student will have had most of what is on the test by then. The pass fail system was simply not designed into FCAT. It was not made for this, and in so, is not working.
FCAT is- uneccessarily costly and time consuming (we already have the Stanford assessment test that is much more accurate and consistant), it was not designed for its current use, It makes it impossible for a good school to maintain its rating, (a school rated 98% in 07 may get an A+ rating, that same grade in 08 will garner them a B+ statsis that robs the school of valuable revenue). and on and on...

So here is what I suggest-
1. Use the test for what it was designed for. Get rid of the burden of pass-fail.(There have been studies that suggest the FCAT sections are not consistant. Stanford testing rates much higher which is why 10 out of the last 15 states that used it have now dropped it in favor of the Stanford).
2.Require accountability of the school not the students for quality education.
3. Students grades are a requirement of graduation, otherwise we might as well skip classes altogether and just teach to the test all year.
4. If we continue to use FCAT let's find a commttee in charge of all the cirriculim so ther will be some consistancy between the math, English, and science tests.
5. I suggest that students are only required to take the FCAT section appropriate to ther major study. A student shouldn't be expected to do well on a math test if they are planning to go into English. Presumably the student has passed school based on their grades.
6. Here's a good suggestion. Let's take the millions we spend on FCAT and use that to find a cirriculim we wish our schools to follow to make the education as top notch as possible. Spending time and effort researching the latest studies is much better time and money spent then labeling our children.
7. Pay our teachers!!!!! The best teachers go to states where they can get a decent salary.

I have many such suggestions, but who is listening?

I also feel that the FCAT causes unfair distribution of funds to schools... the schools who test poorly should be the establishments that gain more help and more attention. What good does closing them do?

Parents and students are not the only ones who feel this method of testing and reward distribution is unfair and unwarranted. The FCAT testing was established about the time that my daughter was in the fifth grade. (She is now a sophomore...) One of her teachers at her elementary school told me that there were trigonometry questions on the FCAT test that she herself would not be able to pass if given the test. Nor had these kids even taken trig yet, much less basic algebra! She felt that the tests were disruptive to the normal course of activity and learning in her classroom since the teachers had to stop "teaching" curriculum and start drilling rote memorization into their students. (If you will remember, Jeb Bush, when he was Governor of Florida, was instrumental in enacting the FCAT.)

I am told that kids who speak English as a second language usually do not fare so well. I think that students should not be held back due to FCAT testing... they should be rewarded on the basis of individual grades for classes completed. The schools who receive a below par grade rating should be given additional funding to help them excel.

While I can appreciate your view point for your son, I am probably one of the only people in Florida that support the FCAT. I am glad that our state finally did something to measure our quality of education.

Ironically, I too suffered from poor reading comprehension and my SAT score reflected it. I had to take remedial reading courses at UCF. Of course they didn't catch my score quickly enough and I had already enrolled in Comp1 and scored a B at UCF. But even after passing their own English Comp class, they still made me take remedial reading courses before I could enroll for Comp 2. It was embarrassing and made me angry.

That said, I believe that the FCAT should be one part of deciding if a student should be passed onto the next grade. I believe that the whole picture needs to be addressed.

One of the issues I have with every FCAT "basher" is they never have a solution. The FCAT was designed for to solve a problem and while it may not be the perfect solution, it is getting the results that it set out to do.

So just getting rid of it isn't solution. There needs to be some method of accountability for everyone, teachers, administration, and students. If not, they we are really hurting our children because many fall thru the cracks with a below acceptable literacy rate.

I don't know what would be better than the FCAT, but if people really don't like it, then everyone should put their energy towards finding an alternative.

Again, I can completely understand how you feel with your son, and if it were my child I would be angry too. There has to be some other solution.

I was re-reading writermom's core comment and how she was terrible at reading and yet is a writer. I was an idiot in math, truly I am beyond terrible. My daughter is a genious compared to me and yet I run a business and do all my books and ordering and budgeting and sales reports, you get the idea.
I wish the schools would leave it up to us to decide if our children were getting a good education. And again, I have stated this before, if a child doesn't care about school and neither do their parents, so be it. That really isn't the school's responsibility, they provide the education; it is up to the individual to take advantage of it.

It is true that the teacher's do not see the test, however FCAt produces many study guides that will give a teacher a pretty good idea in what area of study each test will have. For example there are 4 areas of study in the math test. Algebra, geometry, statistics and probabilities, etc. Now if you have a subject on there that isn't offered till sophomore year and you have to take the test your freshman year, what do you think the teachers are going to do?
Look at all the prep classes for PSAT and SAT and the number of literature on the subject. It is the same for FCAT. Stanford is the only one I know of that never seems to do alot of prep for. Could be because Stanford does not keep you from graduating or getting the college you want, and yet seems to be equal at determining student levels. Isn't that interesting.
One of the universities my daughter is applying to is an ivy league school that does not even look at SAT's. They look at the students grades for her field of study and rely heavily on student essays and acomplishments. What a novel concept, judging a student by her talents and acomplishments. As far as the waiver goes, I would love to but I am not to sure she qualifies. She does not really fit into all the requirements because of her grades and the type of classes she takes. They don't make that waiver easy to get. It covers more for a student who has problems across the board, not in one subject. (She actually has trouble in many subjects but has overcome many of her shortcomings. Math directly applies to her short term and dyslexic problems, many of the tools she uses do not translate in use with math and in 8 years of special classes, tutoring, programs, and special compensations, noone has been able to help with math. Math is finite and requires rote memorization and Maggie's sequencing issues are never going to get better. She works hard for those B's and C's and I think that is good enough.)

Meyer's: Your daughter will be a senior this school year? I was concerned that she was a senior this past year (as was my LD son -- who actually graduated in June). I again suggest that you try to get your daughter an FCAT waiver -- you're right that it is totally ridiculous that an A student who is struggling with FCAT Math should be denied a high school diploma! Also, now that I understand she has this school year to pass the FCAT Math -- what do you think of LMB's On Cloud Nine program for her.
"http://www.lindamoodbell.com/programs/on-cloud-nine.html
I've heard mixed results with this program, but most have been positive. My oldest daughter was shaky on some Math concepts and Kumon helped her (note that if your daughter has a dyscalcula diagnosis that Kumon would probably not help her so much -- my oldest daughter was non-LD). And I realize she's probably too old to be interested in Danica McKellar's math-help books (which my math-hating 13-year-old niece says has been especially helpful), but in case anyone else reading is interested -- here's a link
www.mathdoesntsuck.com/
If your daughter makes at least Cs in high school Math courses, then she must be very hard-working and that will be to her favor, most certainly. I think the FCAT is evil -- but since you're backed in a corner -- I really hope & pray that your daughter passes the problem part of it ASAP!

Also I don't think that all the FCAT tests are aimed at average students- 1/2 of the math test my daughter's freshman year had questions on math that she had not even taken yet because it was not offered to freshman. How are you supposed to pass a test with questions on subjects you have never had? How can you cram for math? It isn't possible.
My daughter is a 3.5 student but gets c's in math (the reason she isn't a 4.0 student). Grades are averaged because all of us know that not every student is good in every subject. We expect students to pass every class, but we know not everyone will make straight A's. Obviously FCAT doesn't understand this concept. She has taken remedial math for 5 years, which is why I think she will never be able to pass the test, last year she took regular math and got a C. And now she has to back to remedial, which almost ensures that she will not pass math. What kind of system is this?
I have researched and researched, and many documents I have read state that a diploma cannot be denied on the basis of one section of an FCAT test as long as there are other standardized material that says your child is doing well in school and is passing. What kind of system tells an honors student at a 5 star school, with a 3.5 and a bright futures scholarship, that she cannot graduate? Here's another thought for those of you out there. No university outside of the state of Florida even looks at FCAT, what use is it to anyone but to the number crunchers. The way my daughter's grades are going she will qualify for quite a few Ivy League schools and yet without that diploma my daughter will not be able to go to any of them.

Thankyou to the state of Florida for ruining my daughter's future.

I think the issue here is not whether students should take standardized tests, but whether they should be a pass fail test for the students. I think schools should be rewarded for high standardized testing. The problem is when the school starts teaching to the test then it gives a false reading of student accomplishments. If the test is truly designed as a comprehensive study of what the school teaches its students, then it should not be studied for. If the state of Florida really wants to see what the schools are teaching the students then it should not put out so many FCAT study guides that give the teachers tools to cram for the test. We all know at least one quarter of every year is devoted to teaching to the test, some schools even more.
I plan to try a new tactic this year. I know what is best for my child and I will decide what she does or does not need for her schooling. Parents have lost their power within the current school system in this state and I am going to reassurt myself. Somewhere between her declared major, FCAT, Stanford, PSAT, SAT, Pass-fail math, Pass-fail-science, 4 year required math and science, required remedial for low FCAT scores, extra cirricular, and community service requirements, I am going to see that my daughter learns something and excells in the field she wishes to work in.
I am more than aware that this "no kid left behind" state could care less at how the child actually accomplishes this, it is all about the $, and why shouldn't it be. The residences of Florida do not wish to pay for top quality education so schools are forced to look elsewhere for their money.
This is such a hot issue that never goes away- We are not debating standardized testing, but the method to which the state of Florida is implementing this test. We all agree that the extra pressure we put on schools and students is detrimental to education. We know it is, we see it. We are not talking about special needs and lower income students, but all students. We are talking about excellent students who are not being rewarded for their hard work but are being penalized. For me, the issue is so simple, if Florida wants to play the number game, let them. Using the FCAT in the traditional method that it was meant for will be a much more honest assessment of our schools. This is not a pass fail test. Grades should be the single method of which a child passes his or her school. Assessment tests are for the schools to be rated, not the students.
You know truly if a child could care less about his education and neither do his parents, then so be it. School has always been there for those that want to learn and to hell with "no kid left behind".
My daughter was crying in her room the other day about passing FCAT and school hasn't even started yet- what does that say for our school system. She doesn't know why she works so hard in honors classes when none of her grades are going to count because she can't get a good score on her FCAT math. A 3.5 grade student should not be crying because of her grades. She wants to take easier classes so she will have more time to study for FCAT. @$$#@%^**&^%$

The statement you made about the higher the scores are the more money comes is similar to our situation in California but with one twist . If the teachers get the scores up by only teaching what is on the release test questions all year, the Superintendent of our school will get a $40,000.00 bonus and the students for all the hard work will get nothing.

The FCAT is just another standardized test made to mark the progress of you child. If it wasnt the FCAT it would be the SAT's etc; either way there will always be some kind of test to mark the childs progress.

However, the FCAT cannot really demonstrate a childs intelligents nor how much they have learned that year because the teacher is never actually allowed to see the test(so there is no possible way that they could teach TO it)

I know many of my friends who have missed the mark by just 1 or 2 points on the reading section; which causes them to have to take intensive reading the following year. which means they wont have pe/elective that year (which is proven to boost test scores) so its basically a lose-lose situation as it comes to that.

Just remember, there will always be some kind of a test and it is always be aimed for the average student. (honors students will always pass it with flying colors as the regular students may find the test more difficult.)

thats just the way it is.

keep in mind, each year the # score that the child has to earn goes up so that they are showing progress from the previous year. However, the actually test that they are taking reuses several questions from the pervious year, and adds just a few higher level questions to the same test.
I hope the makes sense. . . .

Very good advice emyers,is that why my daughter pass the fcat this yr.because the fcat test scores was lowered by the Gov.Cris.He only did it to make themselves look better in the school system.and I thought we had to wait on a new President.they can get rid of the fcat if they really want too right here in Fl.they thought we as parents would not see their flaws,and let them know how STUPID they are.the system SUCKS.

harleymiss...

You should be able to find out by calling the school. Let them know you are a concerned parent, and are aware of the FCAT labeling system and would like to inquire about your child's school "grade". Anyone who answers the phone should know the answer to that one. The Dept. of Education for Florida may have it on their website, or you might choose to google the county the school is located in, then do in internal search.

Gov. Crist lowered the standards on FCAT so that more kids had a chance to pass? What's the point of that?

Once again Florida lowers it's standards to look good on paper.

When is real education going to be important to Florida again?

Get rid of standardized testing and demand better teachers, better cirriculim and better enrichment programs. Put your money where your mouth is, please!

Just typing in to let you know that my daughter passed her FCAT math test (phew). Now this coming school year is when it counts, cross your fingers.

For anyone on the fence about whether FCAT teaches to the test check this out-

Maggie got a 5 which means in her case she did better than 52% of the state.

A 5 means "she got most of the questions correct" there words not mine (she only got 20 out of 50 correct)

Now where I went to school 20 out of 50 isn't almost all correct; and yet she still did better than 52% of the state.

Now here's the clincher- she got almost all of her geometry questions correct which is great but she has never taken geometry yet. So how did she know the answers? They went over possible geometry answers in R.O.T.C. (cramming, ain't it grand). She got almost all her probability questions wrong which she did not cram for and which she will not take until her junior year, after the pass-fail FCAT is taken.

Now you tell me what was the purpose of a math test where 3/4 of the questions asked where not even studied yet by my daughter. If she hadn't had that geometry cramming she would not have passed since only 1/4 of the test was on algebra that she had studied.

By the way my daughter has a 3.5 and scored in the top 95% in reading FCAT, which is a good thing since she wants to be a writer.

The grade of your child's school is listed on the state and county school web page. It should be listed somewhere on your schools web page as well, although doesn't have to be. It could also be listed on the chamber of commerce page under local schools and most realtors will have that info. because people look for homes in good schools districts.

Don't be fooled if a school is a B school verses an A school. The B school could have better grades than the A school. Since it is required that a school better itself every year, if they have the same score as the year before they can drop one grade point. An example is my daughter's public high school- it is the only 5 star school in the county but it has a B rating. It had a score of 98 the previous year, which is pretty hard to top. They got a 96 this year, so now they are a B school. The school has a 95% college bound rate and the state average is 68%, nough said. The school rating is a combination of factors, not just grades and this could also keep a good school down. It could be affected by the size of the library or the kinds of school lunches, etc. I always check the class cirriculim and the schools grades and graduation rates. I think that is a better indication of the quality of the school.

FCAT is the TAKS. Bush brought it from Texas.

Dear WriterMom, How do you find out if your child's school is an "A" or "F" school. Unfortunately my daughter lives with her father in Port St. Lucie, I try to keep up but..... She will be attending Treasure Coast High next school year.

It is easier for the public school system to spend money on making it look like we are improving our schools rather than spending time and money on actually improving our schools. No need to actually keep up with quality education when they can manufacture a test that says we are improving our schools.

Think of all the money our schools have spent on improving the technology in our schools. All those shiny new computers. Funny thing was they didn't have any teachers that were up to speed on teaching computer skills and next to no techs. that could repair the machines. At least we looked like we were heading our students into the future. Now many schools have computer labs that are barely used. In many cases the students teach the teachers how to use the software. My own daughter used to go in during her teachers planning hour and show her how to use software that she was teaching to younger students.

My daughter, I believe has still managed to get a solid education even in Fl. This is more because I have been very careful in choosing her education. I have supplemented her education where the school system has abissmally failed; such as teaching her about American history or grammer and spelling. I have enlisted tutors when necessary and involved myself at her schools. Bottom line is as parents we have the right to quality education for our children. In Florida it is not handed to you but is a priveledge.

Our children no longer will have the extensive choices of studies in public schools that we had as children; those days are gone. We need to give back the choice to our children, the choice of whether they will be outstanding students or not. The choice to sail through school with flying colors or not.
The school system is trying to sell us a bill of goods. They say all our children will be tall, blonde, successful, they will all where size 8 shoes, and will all drive sedans. What about the child that is short, brunette, and wants to drive a Harley? It isn't for the school boards to decide what areas our children will be successful in. It isn't for them to decide that only science, math and English are neccessary for graduation. Our children are complex and skilled in many areas, which is reflected in their grade point average. If grade point averages are good enough for every university in this country then who is the state of Fl. to argue. There will always be students that excell even in the worst school systems and those that fail even in the best. Ultimately it is how much a child wants an education that determines the outcome.

Having the state waive a test score in front of the general populous will not make one bit of differance to a family or child that could care less about learning and for a child that craves education, well they are already way ahead of the curve..

To hopkinsatl,again you have expressed the truth of this matter.I totally agree with every word that you have written here on this topic.

This debate makes me wonder whatever happened to the days of simply concentrating on the quality of the substance of what's being taught with the expectation that if you have properly instructed the students, they'll be capable of passing ANY test, ANYWHERE they may live?

After all, this is how us "old school" parents were taught. We all learned how to read using the "Dick and Jane" books, we learned roman numerals and how to write cursive, we managed to have recess, art, and music clsses, we participated in extra-curricular activities. We accomplished this by using shorter days and we were assigned homework that didn't require 3 hours of work.

What changed so much that we needed to drasticly alter the old methods? It's obvious it's not working, as children are stressed out, culturally retarded and are only proficient in how to take a test. We must move away from this dangerous practice and combining it with funding requirements, shifts the emphasis from actual education to making our kids a business money-making venture.

Why were the old standards and practices in education abandoned and what good has come out of the present?

Another poster already mentioned this -- but I'll put it up again:

www.fcarweb.org

It's the Florida Coalition for Assessment Reform organization's website.

Under the TAKE ACTION! tab, you'll find these suggestions:

If you have stories you can share with us, we ask you to participate in a very short and completely anonymous survey. It should take about ten minutes--perhaps more if you have a lot to say.

Interested school personnel please go to:
www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=351423260023

Interested parents please go to:
www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=246153266525

Participate in a Poll

A new poll is up on the FCAR Forum Yahoo space: "Would you support a well-planned, well-organized statewide boycott of FCAT in 2008 by parents, students, teachers, and concerned citizens?"

groups.yahoo.com/group/FCARFORUM/polls

Sign a Petition Calling for the Dismantling of NCLB

www.petitiononline.com/1teacher/petition.html

Nothing in government ever gets fixed fast. That is why government should stay out of our education. I think standardized testing has never worked. It isn't that the idea of school watchdog is incorrect. We need to know that our schools are living up to a basic standards, but once we fingerpoint at sub-standard education, we seem to be unable to rectify the situation. It is one thing to say your state needs better education. It is another thing to improve state schools. When we began failing these tests we decided we needed to change the tests to improve education? Does that sound as lame to you as it does to me. It was not the fault of the tests that students couldn't pass. Neither was it the fault of the students.

No one wants to say it but the fact is, not every child is a good student, some children will not pass school and some will pass with flying colors. Some children thrive in schools that are low on the totem pole and some will fail at the best schools in the state. Pouring money into a standardized testing system could always be better spent elsewhere. All standardized testing really does is find that "happy medium", that place where are children don't have to be too smart or too dumb. Compromise has always bred mediocrity.

When my child has difficulty with a subject, I help her in any way she needs to improve. I do not blame the school, or the teacher(even if I feel the teacher is sub-standard). We work hard and improve. I am sorry that some parents do not care about their child's grades or are not attentive to their children. This is not the responsibility of the school board. It is the responsibility of the parents, to search for the proper education for their child, demand certain standards. I don't know of any parent that demanded Standardized testing.

Sounds as if we share some solidarity with you guys in Florida, we've had quite a mess here in Georgia with the CRCT tests!

Recently here in Georgia, the state Education Superintendent actually threw out some of the 6th and 7th grade test scores because more than half of the children failed for some of the same reasons listed here. Now, the state is being overwhelmed with children who have to attend summer school and/or be retested in order to be promoted to the next grade. Not to mention the considerable cost this will pose.

Whatever happened to the good, ole days when we all used the same tests (IOWA) nationwide to judge academic achievements? It seems that each state is compiling their own curriculum which are tailored around the actual tests instead of designing one that centers on providing the students with the necessary information and skills that will allow them to pass ANY test.

The standardized tests we had in place wasn't broken, there was no need to fix it, but by tying in funding with test scores, we shifted the emphasis from education to finance and unfortunately, the children and we, as a society, will inevitably pay the price in the end unless we wake up and fix this dangerous trend fast.

I'm not a professional writer. I was born, it seems knowing how to read. Took college English courses when I was in 5th grade. Read 3 or 4 books at a time; and at 46 years old I can barely remember my times tables. I am a math illiterate, I admit it. By 4th grade I could no longer help my daughter with her math homework. I love to draw and paint and sculpt and sew and design and act and sing. It is truly my calling. I have worked and taught art and drama all my life. I have a Masters in fine art and a bachelors in English, a degree in design, and was a straight A student in high school (accept for the one quarter I took algebra my freshman year and got a C-). Fortunately for me math and science were lumped in the same catagory and from then on earth sciences were my best friend. I graduated high school one year early with 23 college prep courses completed. In college I was an A-B student getting multiple degrees at the same time, while simultaniously working my way through college, with the addition of academic scholarships. Going to school was never an issue with 9 Ph.D's in the family and 4 college professors. I tell you all this because I could never have passed the math FCAT, I mean never. That was fine because I never planned on being a mathmetician.

No matter how hard schools try, a student will never be proficiant in every subject. This isn't what makes a good school. A good school nurtures and encourages what you are good at. They provide honors classes, afterschool clubs, and guidance support to help you find the right area of study. Yes you need to pass school with at least a C-D average, but that C-D student could be making straight A's in P.E. or art and a school can recognize those skills and help that student reach their potential.

A great school does not make sure that the student passes math or science FCAT. A Great school acknowledges a Great student.

Florida schools have cut budgets and boiled down our schools to reading, writing, 'rithmatic', which is necessary, but misses the mark completely. Once a child learns to read, write, and add 2+2; what do they do then? Are our schools giving them any ideas?

I don't talk to my teenager much about FCAT. I figure the school does that enough. Last night we were coming home and the quality of Florida education came up on the radio. My daughter chimes in, ..."of course schools in Fl. are bad, all we do is study for that stupid FCAT all year and then everyone is too tired after the test to do anything. I would like to learn some other, more important stuff instead of FCAT stuff"
My daughter has never read any of my comments on the web. If we don't think our children are savvy on this issue, I think my daughter's statement says it all.

We don't need educators or parents to stand before committees and rally on the web. Tallahassee needs to listen to the students that want to learn and are crying out for good education.

In Sarasota school system we spent quite a bit of time, money, and effort passing a bill that made classroom sizes down to 18 students, as well as a amendment to get rid of all the portables. Great in theory but our school district is growing in leaps and bounds. If you downsize classrooms and get rid of portables, where do you put the extra children? Build new schools? With what money? Unfortunately the FCAT money wouldn't put a dent in that number. 5 years later very few schools have downsized and we have more portables than ever. I noticed the other day that one of the schools that built a new building and got rid of their portables now has 6 shiny new portables on their property 4 years later. I'm afraid the growth boom in Florida took it's toll on this bill.

One thing the school system can do with some of the money,try down sizeing the classrooms,or put two teachers in one class to help the kids.

Thanks for posting that emeyers. I read it. It lines up with a thousand other seniors in this state facing the same dilemma. I have emailed them as well, informing them of this site and our mission.

Please everyone, read this article. It is a very clear overview of the mis-nomers of FCAT.
www.highschool.citymax.com/page/page/2758288.htm

It occured to me that the State of Florida has been giving the Stanford assessment test for years and this did nothing to improve the quality of our education. Just giving another assessment test is not going to force any school board to improve its education. It makes sense then that they would put this burden on the students shoulders. If they can't force their schools to improve then forget them and put the pressure on the students. Seems a little unfair since it is the educators that have the degrees in education.

Great research emeyers...

So our state is spending MILLIONS of dollars to ensure our childrens' futures are either delayed or taken from them...all for the sake of one TEST.

After some research, here's what I know-
2006-07 school year

$350.00 for writing the FCAT test
$2.1 million for the 6 tests given to grade schools
$2.8 million for high schools
$3 million for support staff

add cost of inflation for this year your topping 10 million.
This does not include retakes (maybe another million or two)

According to the school board approx $12.84 per child. The figure is actually more like $25-30.00 per child.

Sarasota High 3000 student X $25.00=$75,000.00
That would pay for teacher raises!

Sarasota Military Academy 600 students x $25.00=$15,000.00
That would pay for the band to go and play at the China Olympics.

Bayhaven School 600 students x $25.00= $15,000.00
They could bring back their afterschool programs.

The average size school in Florida-1500 students x $25.00=$37,500.00
(pick one)
* teacher aides
*enrichment programs
*aftercare
*capital improvements
*new materials/labs
*extra honors programs
*teacher raises
*one teacher that won't get laid off because of budget cuts.

Multiply this savings x the years FCAT has been in effect and imagine the improvements your school could make. Add inflation rates to future years of FCAT, because you know the FCAT support staff are getting their raises, and dream of what could be done with that!

seniormom //
I feel the FCAT is a good way to test the school and teachers. It should not be used for graduation requirements for seniors. Teachers should look at the FCAT and teach what is on the FCAT. Do not take away from other important subjects. Do not stress our children out by emphasizing the importance of FCATs. The A, B, C, D, F grades should represent how well your student is doing to graduate. The grade point average is what colleges look at. If a child is getting good grades and cannot pass the FCAT maybe our teaching curriculum needs to be changed. Let the FCAT test the schools and teachers. Do you think my son, who has passed all his classes but did not pass the reading part of FCAT, and he is 18 years old, will go and get his GED? Go back to high school next year? I hope so, for his sake.

FCAT TEMPLATE LETTER AVAILABLE HERE:

www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-25298

I have posted the above link for any Florida resident parent wanting to join us in bombarding heads-of-state politicians and educators on behalf of our children.

iReport.com is owned by CNN, so maybe we'll get some media attention on the subject.

Keep posting your FCAT stories HERE because I will be printing these out sometime in JUNE and sending them to Tallahassee, the President, top educators, and local news media.

It's SIMPLE. It's EASY. If you support what it says, sign it and mail it in. Take 5 minutes.

Thanks!

Ronnie...

Thanks for your input here. That's exactly what we're trying to accomplish with these posts. Please encourage your friends who have their children in Florida public schools to post their experiences here. I will be sending all of them to Tallahassee in June, as well as to top educators and media.

I understand completely. My son is only 12yrs old but only just passed the FCAT last year. He missed the math by like 3 points. Again I found they studied for the FCAT all year and put so much pressure on all the students. He is a nervous wreck during the whole week of the testing. I already dread high school and just pray that the law changes before he gets there.

Very well written,I hear what you are saying and I totally agree with you emyers.

I have been entering other sites and reading state records on the subject of FCAT and I have noticed a trend with state legislators when speaking to advocates. They keep asking anti-FCAT speakers the same question.

Don't you think your child will ever have to take a test?

If that isn't the most ludicris, insulting question anyone could ask. Obviously asked by someone in the legislature that has never had kids. Does Tallahassee think we are clueless to the inner workings of our children's schools.

Let's focus here people- Remember grades, grades have always been the national standard for assessing children's knowledge. Teacher inspires, children learn, assignments are given, tests are given to assess retention. Now assuming that the material the students are working from has been approved by educators and is current, then the grades should be pretty accurate at determining student knowledge. Grades have also traditionally been pretty accurate at measuring the institution itself. One thing that grades a supremely excellent at is determining what your child excells in, not is proficient at, but excells at. That area of study that your child will someday make a difference. No standardized testing will ever do that. Standardized testing strives for mediocrity, to pass, to get by.

It has never been a secret to parents in a community which are the best schools. Anyone who owns a home knows what a good school system does for property values. I am not saying this is even a factor for some parents. For those parents, FCAT isn't even an issue. For those that it matters to, we don't need standardized testing or "No Child Left Behind". We will not let our children be left behind.

I think the state has forgotten who is in charge of our children. Unless the state plans on feeding and paying for my childs clothes, I think they should stay out of my business. I am the one that has my child's best interest at heart.

I will see that the state of Florida lives up to my educational needs by speaking to the EDUCATORS, not the polititions. I will demand teachers that can teach, and pay them for it. I will see that my school has the best materials to teach with. I will demand educational administrators that stay in touch with parents and students and their needs. This will allow Tallahassee to channel funds in more productive ways.

Finally, let's talk statistics- There are paper stats and reality stats, on paper we have more students graduating. OK in reality, we also have an accelerated drop out rate, lowering of standards in favor of teaching to the test, an ever growing home-school and private school rate and these students are contributing to those higher grad. numbers without taking FCAT.

Do you think for one moment that any parent worth their salt gives a fig about your stats. While you pat yourselves on the backs in Tallahassee, we are picking up the peices of our children's broken dreams. Our children are not statistics, they are living, breathing examples of our future. They need to be nurtured so they can spread their wings, not get them clipped in favor of statistics.

So don't tell me that education is improving in a state where after school programs, enrichment studies, and the arts are evaporating into administrative mist. Where more and more teachers and aides are being phased out with budget cuts, and classroom sizes are as big as ever,(despite the 18 in a class mandate).

I've given the state of Florida it's assessment test and you do not get to graduate, but don't worry we will put you in a remedial class, get you a tutor (at your expense) and you will then have 5 more chances to pass, but by then you will be too old to shoot for that higher education you have always dreamed of. That's ok, I'm sure we can find you a low paying job - how about as a teacher.

I admit to being dumb on the subject of politics. Do we know who our strongest supporters are in the State legislature? I can see the newspapers and networks that are on our side but everyone I talk to in the legislature seem very supportive, a technique they have no doubt honed over the years. I am sure many of the "understanding" politicos are for FCAT.

The FCAR (Florida Coalition for Assessment & Reform)is a wonderful organization. Everyone, please go on-line and sign the various petitions. Strength in numbers! Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

Thanks,that would be great.

Having just come across this blog, I thought some posters may be interested in the website Florida Coalition for Assessment Reform.

Does anyone know how many of those 27,000 students would have failed even without the FCAT? If a great number of them were passing then this is a huge reflection on the quality of Florida schools. The school system places so much emphesis on the students passing the FCAT test that they fail to point the blame where it belongs, on themselves, which by the way, is what the FCAT was designed for. 95% failure in some testing is outrageous. I know there were not 95% failing their classes, so I can only assume that the schools are not teaching our kids properly, enough, or whatever you would like to call it. A school is only as good as it's teaching staff. It is clear we are not retaining our best teachers from our Florida universities. Wake up Tallahassee.

This is so sad and disturbing to me.How can the system let this go on.WriterMom I just hope somebody can get the school system attention and they wake up and see the damage they are doing to our children.do they know our children are the future.

PALM BEACH POST REPORTS:

Nearly 27,000 Florida high school seniors may not get diplomas, including 1,770 in Palm Beach County

Click on Link for full story: www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2008/05/15/0515fcat.html

THIS is why we need to BAN THE FCAT.

Does anyone have the figures on how much FCAT costs the state each year? I would like to know how that would compare to upping the salaries of teachers. We have some of the best teaching schools in the country and yet we send them to other states. I have a neighbor that retired 35 years as a grade school teacher and her salary at retirement was less than half of what the starting salary for a new teacher is in Ohio or Minnesota. If I was a teacher, I'd head for colder pastures. The teachers here are frustrated with ever increasing restrictions, same page teaching creates same page students.You can have the best facilities, the highest standards, and the strictest requirements, and if you tie the hands and chase away all the best educators then you have nothing. I would give up every fancy text book, computer, enrichment program, and extra curricular activity, for one teacher that inspires a child.

Let's review shall we-

In high school a child must-

Pass the No Child Left Behind national standard

Declare a major before entering high school

Have 4 years of math (Is your child planning to be a mathmatician? If he is it will be easy to meet your major requirements)

3 years of science (no problem with your major if you are going to be a scientist)

If you are planning to be anything other than a scientist or a mathmatician good luck taking enough credits for your field of study.

Pass Florida Writes

Pass FCAT ( if you don't pass any part of it then you will automatically be put in remedial classes, even if you pass your honors classes)

PSAT's and SAT's

Stanford testing (in some schools)

all this regaurdless of your grades or accomplishments. I think that if grades are not a determination for graduation then we should drop grades altogether in favor of taking one test a year that supposedly does not need to be studied for. That way our children won't have to work at all. They won't have to be expert in any area of study and they can just be proficiant in many areas. No one will need to be special or spectacular at anything. All our children will be able to count and know the periodic table and barely be prepared for a career of their choosing. Way to be average Florida!!!

Thanks for the names Oo5

Not only is the FCAT hindering graduation rates for Florida high schools -- it is also forcing many children out of the public school system altogether. Many of us are turning to home schooling and private schools -- many of us who would not have done so until the FCAT take-over. My youngest daugher, age 10 - 4th grade, is also LD (Dyslexia/APD) will probably have to fight the FCAT wars if we return her to public school full-time. I dread the thought of doing so at this point -- the whole thing is dreadful -- the "dreaded" FCAT, as Writermom has aptly labelled this thread.

Emeyers -- if you still need waiver info, maybe these contacts could help...

Dawn Saunders - dawn.saunders@fldoe.org
Elise Lynch - elise.lynch@fldoe.org

WAIVER FORM FOR FCAT...educational level based on proficiency -- Waiver of Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test® (FCAT) Graduation Requirement for Students with Disabilities Form, revised August 2006. This form should be completed by the individual educational plan (IEP) team when determining whether a student with a disability should be waived from the requirement to achieve a passing score on the Grade 10 FCAT for graduation.

Tracking Student Performance for the FCAT Waiver Technical Assistance Paper (TAP). The purpose of this document is to assist educators in the consistent implementation of the Enhanced New Needed Opportunity for Better Life and Education for Students with Disabilities (ENNOBLES) Act (HB 1739) by providing perspective on how IEP teams may determine the FCAT equivalent mastery of the grade 10 Sunshine State Standards (SSS) as required by criterion number four listed in section one on the FCAT waiver form.

This document provides suggestions for procedures after a 10th grade student with a disability seeking a standard diploma does not pass the FCAT....highlight the following addition that has been made to the 2006-2007 FCAT waiver form, page one, third paragraph as compared to the previous version:

In accordance with House Bill 7087, otherwise known as the A++ Bill, which was signed into law on June 5, 2006, students who have received instructional accommodations in the classroomthat are non-allowable on the FCAT may be considered for the waiver from the FCAT graduation requirement if the student meets all seven of the exemption criteria. For example, a student who has been provided literature via audio tape in order to complete assignments and assessments to demonstrate comprehension skills in an English course, which is a non-allowable accommodation on the FCAT, may still be considered for the FCAT waiver if the IEP team determines that all seven criteria have been met.

If you have any questions regarding the FCAT waiver process or the use of the attached form, please direct them to the contact persons listed on the first page.

CHERI PIERSON YECKE, PH.D.
CHANCELLOR, K-12 PUBLIC SCHOOLS
325 W. GAINES STREET • SUITE 514 • TALLAHASSEE, FL 32399-0400 • (850) 245-0509 • www.fldoe.org

I am not worried about the Colleges. Many ivy league schools have already been recruiting my kid. We are not worried about math because she is going into English and does well in those subjects. She is on consult so she technically has an IEP. I did not read anything on the waivers that would allow you to drop just one section. You know how it is, Florida believes strongly in labeling, once your gifted your gifted. My main concern is getting that diploma. Ivy League schools have strict entrance exams and requirements, schools vary greatly, Sara Lawrence does not even look at SAT's; however, all of them would notice if she had trouble getting her diploma. You are definately right about local school districts not helping with the waivers. Since Florida is so diligent at getting all their students labeled with an IEP (more money in their pockets) it could come back to bite them in the butt if all the IEP parents start asking for waivers, it's a pretty nasty loop hole for them financially.

By the way, I was listening to NPR this morning and the federal government gave Florida a C+ for the "no kid left behind program". Even though we scored in the top 12 % nationally. They said part of the problem was that Florida's strict graduating policies were hindering the students (well, imagine that).

If a student’s IEP team has determined that no test accommodations are appropriate, and the student has failed the FCAT at least twice, is the student eligible for the waiver?

Yes, as long as the student meets all other requirements, the IEP team has considered allowable accommodations and determined none to be appropriate. This determination may be based on the student not receiving accommodations in the classroom or on the classroom accommodations not being allowed on the FCAT.

emyers: Your daughter is only struggling with the Math portion of the FCAT? If she has an IEP that's only supervised (like my son whose also a senior taking AP courses - gets extra time for testing, RFB&D, extra set of books, etc., but no remedial or SLD courses since 8th grade)... could she just get a waiver for the Math portion only? My understanding is that the best way to get the waiver is for you to contact Tallahassee yourself. (The schools do not want to even suggest waivers for kids.)

My LD son was accepted by all but one of his college choices (he was stretching way too far for that one anyway-- it's an Ivy and a stretch for the very best non-LD Valedictorian type students) -- He was up front about his dyslexia and yet got accepted at very competitive colleges. (I was worried unnecessarily as it turns out. He figured that they'd see that he'd had extra time for the SAT so he might as well be honest about it in his essays.)

Please keep us posted -- now you've got some one out here rooting for your daughter. (You can tell her this: My first college roommate 25 years ago had a severe Math disability -- not acknowledged or respected by her high school. She made a perfect 800 on the verbal score of the SAT and a 0 math score. They let her in to the college based only on the verbal score and then she took remedial math courses that were applied to graduation. She's a lawyer with an excellent reputation at this point (her husband is an accountant -- a match made in heaven :)

As much as I hate the FCAt I don't know that all the blame for low grad. rates can be blamed on it. Our low grad. rates are the reason the test was implemented in the first place. My daughter's charter school has a 95% college entrance rate the state average is 68%. The school has a no kid left behind attitude and sticks to it fast and hard. We have a very low drop out rate. Think of it 95% of our students don't just graduate, but go to college. (we have a great guidance staff!) Our school does not try to live up to state standards, they live up to student standards. Our head master believes that any child can accomplish what they want in life. Granted we might have a 100% rate if not for Fcat. It know doubt keeps many students from graduating.

The only problem I have with the waiver is, and those of you who have read my advice before know I'm on your side, college entrances are all about perception.

Those students with moderate or severe disabilities have a waiver option that is proportional to their needs. My daughter has an IEP that is on consult. Those of you that have this know that is an accomplishment. It means your child no longer needs any intensive help but only reqires special modifications (like extra time for tests). She has worked hard and now takes honors classes. She does not need remedial modifications. According to the waiver my daughter would be required to take special tutoring and take remedial classes to qualify for the waiver.

My daughter has dyslexia and most subjects she can compenstae for this and their is no problem. Math is mostly memorization and sequencing and this is where math is nearly impossible for her. Even with this she does not take remedial math and struggles with b-c passing grades. If my daughter got a waiver and was forced to take remedial classes this is reflected in her college transcripts. This remedial information can be the differance between getting in to the college of her choice.

I do not think that my daughter will qualify for the waiver (almost positive) and although she can take the FCAT test again until she is 22 I really don't think she wants to start college when everyone else is graduating.

My daughter qualifies for the bright futures scholarship, so my state tells me she's the best of the best, yet they may not give her a diploma? This is so f#@&*ed up. (buy the way her major is English, to study for the FCat my daughter was pulled from one of her classes that she was required to take in her major to cram for the math fcat. Her English grade dropped one whole point because of the teaching she was missing; who cares about algebra).

Just to let everyone know, I do not know if my daughter will fail the math test. Last time she took it she passed by one little point. Unfortunately I can not afford to wait to find out. Parents need to be retroactive on this. The school system has forced us to assume our children will fail so that we can take pre-emptive action. I hate to do this because I believe in my daughter. Unfortunately the state of Florida does not.

Crist made it pretty clear that he was not going to touch the Bush educational plan. He's a "tow the line" kinda guy.

Is anyone going to allow our children to pass high school because they get good grades? Oh my God! why are they working so hard for their grades when no one in the education system wants to take them on their merit. I guess Tallahassee doesn't trust their own educational institutions! How sad...

This is so true, Our private schools have waiting lists to get in. It is becoming more difficult to even find an alternative to public school. Florida's home schooling rate has increased dramatically every year since the pass-fail mandate was added to FCAT. We have a disproportinately high home school ratio compared with almost every other state. If this isn't sending a message I don't know what does.

I just read through the posts and see that your son is definitely a senior and that he will be able to graduate due to a good score on the ACT (yeah!!) -- I hope that he enjoys the college of his choice as well!

My three youngest children are school-age, and my husband and I oppose the use of the FCAT any longer. We want the FCAT eliminated, period. Standard Iowa testing or some other type of "normal evaluation" testing -- like we had previous to the FCAT -- can be re-implemented if necessary.

I am a FLORIDA resident.
Seminole County Public Schools
Daughter, 4th grade
Son, 6th grade
Son, 12th grade

Does Justin have an IEP? Is he currently a senior? (My LD son will be graduating June 3rd -- he passed the FCAT -- but I agree the test is a monster problem for us Florida parents -- SPAY the FCAT!! Note that we spent $$$ for private tutoring at the end of 8th grade, otherwise, our son would probably have continued to fail the FCAT himself...)

You might want to consider getting a waiver if your son has an IEP (if he doesn't have an IEP -- get him tested again in case he could qualify -- I know it's a pain, but it might be worth it...) Here's the link for waiver information in case you don't already have it:

www.fldoe.org/ese/fcat/fcat-tea.pdf

Your son sounds wonderful!! I hope that he continues doing as well as he has been, and that he doesn't let the FCAT craziness get him down!

Unfortunately, kids are dropping out due to FCAT related burdens and issues. My son's school boasted a 550 student count for 12th graders at the start of his senior year. (07). However, it has since fallen dramatically to 499.

51 kids have dropped out of his school since September, '07.

When will state legislators wake up and stop playing Russian roulette with our kids' lives?

If something isn't done soon, there will be nothing left of an education system in Florida. Our state is the only one being "forced" into mandatory regulations.

Has anyone checked the classified section of your local newspaper lately? I have never seen so many "want ads for teachers" in my life. It's not just the kids who are giving up and dropping out: teachers are LEAVING. Can we blame them?

They shut down Fort Lauderdale High School because it couldn't recover from being an "F" school. Thus, all the kids were dispersed throughout Broward County, placing already full to capacity classes busting at the seams.(Who knows where the teachers went).

Meanwhile, there sits a perfectly good school building, with plenty of room for teachers to teach...

We need to unite our voices so that we can be heard.

PLEASE WRITE to your child's Superintendent of Schools for YOUR county.

Thanks.

A lawsuit over Florida's low high school graduation rates
1. posted by LesliePostal on Mar 21, 2008 10:00:00 AM
Discuss This: Comments (20) | TrackBack (0) | Linking Blogs | Add to del.icio.us | Digg it
A "shamefully low" high school graduation rate prompted the American Civil Liberties Union this week to sue the Palm Beach County school district. The class-action lawsuit -- the first of its kind in the nation -- claims the low graduation rate proves the school district provides an "inadequate education" to its students.
The lawsuit also criticizes Palm Beach schools for the gap between the graduation rates for black and Hispanic students and that for their white classmates.
Interestingly, Palm Beach does not have the lowest graduation rate in Florida (that would be Gadsden County in the the Panhandle). A number of other districts, including Dade, Broward, Orange, Osceola, Pinellas and Polk, also have lower rates, based on state figures.
Palm Beach was picked not because its a standout -- though its 2007 graduation rate 71.8 percent is below the state average of 72.4 percent. But because it made a good test case for a national problem, because of its size, diversity and history of low graduation rates, an ACLU attorney told our sister paper in South Florida.
Graduation rates (and how to calculate them) have long been controversial. And Florida has long had low rates, though it is hardly alone.
The lawsuit names 17 defendants, who include white, black and Hispanic parents and students, but seeks improvements for all students in Palm Beach schools. It argues that other similar districts, among them some in Maryland and Virginia, manage to graduate more students than the South Florida district.
Palm Beach school officials declined to comment on the suit, though they were not unprepared for it, as it had been threatened for a year. You can read more about the lawsuit here in the Sun-Sentinel.
It also argues that national studies show Palm Beach's graduation rate is far lower than that reported by the Florida Department of Education. Florida's graduation rate looks better than it should, the lawsuit charges, because the state counts students who leave school to get a GED.
You can read Florida's latest graduation rate report here. It shows that the state's graduation rate has climbed since 2003 but large gaps remain between racial groups. In 2007, the white rate was 81 percent, the Hispanic rate was 66 percent and the black rate was just shy of 59 percent.
The lawsuit claims that even if the state's rate is correct, that nearly 30 percent failure rate shows Palm Beach schools fail to provide the high-quality education demanded in Florida's constitution.
Thoughts on this lawsuit? Florida's graduation rates? The reason so many kids don't make it to commencement four years after they start high school?

It shows that there has much much controversy over the FCAT and what was being done in the past. So as it was stated re Bush so now the parents need to write the present Governor in addtion to the state board of education to determine what marks on college entrance exams equal passing FCAT scores. KEEP HOPE ALIVE....

What year was this done? Jed Bush is not the Gov.of the state of fl. now.has Gov. Cris been removed.if it was left up to me I would get rid of the sat,and the act test.our kids work hard from 1st grade to 12th and they deserve to graduate with their diploma.

Governor asks lawmakers to re-evaluate FCAT requirement
May 28 - June 3. Volume 80, Number 38, Pg 1A
The fate of thousands of high school seniors who failed the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test was placed in the hands of Florida lawmakers Friday when Gov. Jeb Bush asked that they consider easing the impact of the FCAT graduation requirements. The governor’s proposal is to permit those students who were able to reach certain thresholds on college entrance exams – for instance, the SAT or ACT – to receive high school diplomas, though they may have failed the FCAT. It would be up to the state board of education to determine what marks on college entrance exams equal passing FCAT scores.

For Complete Article - 1. Subscribe to Electronic Edition
Click here for more information on this topic:
Students Relieved, Angry Over FCAT Score Flap
Florida's Comprehensive Assessment Test
FCAT Resources on the Web
Governor Jeb Bush Announces Biggest Improvement Ever on FCAT
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Thanks 2ndtimeMom! Just emailed you my letter..

Sounds great! I have so many parents who would like nothing more than to be part of that movement. Please email me the template at laliz62@yahoo.com.

Thank you so much. I'm so glad I found this community.

Very well said 2ndtimeMom...

So sorry to hear about your daughter's experience. My son is presently going through the same thing.

If you'd like a copy of my template letter, please EMAIL ME DIRECT: girlwriter95@yahoo.com and I'll send it to you.

For the moment, I have encouraged every parent to send a letter ASAP to their child's Superintendent of Schools for their county. We need to make our voices heard at different levels in our school system. Bombarding teachers and principals won't help; from what I've been told, they hate the FCAT as much as the students and parents do.

I am still hoping to gather more posts on here so that more parents will come to this site and voice their own grievance about how the FCAT has negatively affected their child's school experience, as well as their future outlook.

Please encourage any Florida parent of child in public school to post here. I will be sending all of these to Tallahassee and Washington, as well as state level educators, and news media.

Thank you.

Amen! Beautifully written and if there is some politician we can write to to have this "test" stricken from the Florida curriculum, I will sign and I have many friends who will sign on the dotted line as well. My beautiful daughter who is now 25 years old did not graduate from high school because of this asinine test and she too, missed it by 2 points. She studied, attended after school tutoring and had a 3.1 grade average. She had all her student community hours and although had a tough third year, she aced it as far as her grades were concerned. She worked her butt off and was not allowed to "walk" at graduation nor receive her high school diploma. What does this say to our children? Your hard work means nothing? The FCAT is what drives your future? Come on! That's asinine unto itself. Let's do something about this horrible test. It's too late for my daughter, but I have a son that may have to go through the same nightmare and I would love to ban this test before he loses any sleep over it.

Several parents on here have mentioned having kids with disabilities and/or are gifted. I found a website that has info regarding special FCAT accomodations the state is supposed to provide to a child with a disability, so please check it out:

www.fldoe.org/ese/fcatasd.asp

Personally, I think ALL of our kids are gifted, and they deserve nothing but the BEST.

Good luck.

For those of you who are requesting the template letter I've created and written so you can send it to your child's Superintendent of Schools (for your county), please email me DIRECT:

girlwriter95@yahoo.com

Please put in Subject line: "Template Letter" so I won't mistakenly delete it and I'll be more than happy to send you a copy.

Thanks!

Parents wishing to use my template letter: please email me with your request, and I'll send it to you.

My letter is written as an "FYI" to show superintendents of schools that parents are up in arms about what the FCAT is doing to our children. I have bulleted the actual specifics my son has experienced first-hand as well as other issues you all have shared here.

The purpose of this letter is to "inform" upper level political educators of the continuous negative effects the FCAT is having on our kids at actual teaching levels.

Please keep encouraging your friends to post here on this issue. Students are welcome too!

Thank you.

Thank you emyers for the info.

emeyers...VERY WELL SAID.

Like Justin, I am sorry to hear that she's being forced to endure such idiocy. I keep wondering where these people [in legislature] left their brains.

The cat tests were designed in Texas and were never intended as a student evaluation, but a state school evaluation on the national standard. Florida is the only CAT state that uses it as a pass fail system. Effectively blaming the students for the fact that the state of Florida is not teaching enough to our children to meet minimum national requirements. Punishing the students for the lack of education that the state is giving them and then skewing the numbers by FCAT cramming sessions. In the past 20 years 10 out of 13 states have dropped the CAT tests sighting among other things that the tests were inconsistant. This test is as old as the "good old boys" in Washington who rely on these test numbers to play the money game. This test has little to do with education. Florida already has the Stanford evaluation test. Schools have to pass this test to be state accredited. Why spend tax dollars on a new one! We can't expect our children to do any better than what our schools can teach. That is why every summer my daughter gets tutored in math so that she can learn a little more and better than what her school gives her. My daughter has gone to 2 of the highest acedemically rated public schools in the state and we still privately tutor her in math. Nough said-

I have no issue with standardized testing or the FCAT in general. My daughter is in honors classes and for the most part has no problems passing tests. She studies diliegently and prepares for tests well. The issue that most parents have with the FCAT is the state regulation that the child needs to pass the test to graduate.

Evaluation tests are not designed as a pass-fail test. They are to evaluate the schools to make sure they are living up to a basic national standard. My daughter will not pass a test that she can't study for and the FCAT test is not a test that you can study for. You can review approximate materials and cram on subjects that you have not been studying in school, but this defeats the purpose of using the FCAT as a school evaluation.

The test gives a false sense of what is being studied in school. I will give you an example. My daughter has not taken chemistry yet in school. This year her ROTC class crammed for chemistry because they knew it would be on the test. ROTC teachers are not science teachers and the cramming did very little good to help the students that were not taking chemistry till next year. Some of these students will pass the chemistry part of the test and yet none of these students know anything about chemisrty yet. This my friends, is teaching to the test. The state numbers look better and our kids have been effectively dumbed down. Not to mention that the time they spent cramming could have been better used for them to actually learn something that will stick.

I do not put pressure on my child about FCAT. We don't even talk about it. The parents don't have to put pressure on their children, the schools do a good job of that all on their own. I see a disturbing trend. When my daughter went to a private school, classes were taught till the last day of school. My daughter has been to 3 public schools and this is the way it pretty much goes-

1st quarter study and review, 2nd quarter- study and educate, 3rd quarter- suspend study and intensive teach to the test, 4th quarter-suspend study and recoup from intensive FCAT study. Any teacher out there that would like to refute this please do.

I believe that the process has an inate ability to cascade upon itself. With all the mandated classes that students have to take, and FCAT cramming, students have less time to learn anything every year. Certainly less time to learn things in their major field of study which they are now required to claim before they even start High School.

In conclusion to the above stated comment, I do believe that many of the public schools in Florida are not living up to nantional standards. The solution is not that we penalize our children for the failure of the school system. How about the school boards listen to the demands of the students and parents. How about we keep our excellently trained teachers in the state by paying them what they are worth. We have some of the best teaching schools in the state, whose teachers go elsewhere in the country to teach. How about more mandatory parent involvment in school cirricillum. My daughter has gone to magnet and charter public schools that have mandatory involvment and their grades are above national standard. How about FCAT reverting back to it's intended use as a school evaluation system which would then allow teachers to teach subjects they were trained for. At the very least can we acknowledge that some children have learning disabilities that can make it difficult, if not impossible to pass certain areas of FCAT. We have remedial classes that students take, they all have their IEP's but we have no remedial FCAT test. The current rdidcule came when we found out that any student that doesn't pass FCAT math must then take remedial math classes the following year.

My daughter has always taken regular math classes and made b-c and works very hard to get these, but she works at grade level. B is above average, right? She barely passed FCAT because so much of it she had never had in school. Now they are going to put my daughter in remedial if she doesn't pass this year? Thank you state of Florida for expecting less for my daughter, which will make it even more difficult for her to pass the test next year!

Please send the draft letter-Thankyou

Private schools are not required to take FCAT. If they are state accredited they are required to take the Stanford but this is not a pass or fail test and is designed to evaluate the school for accredidation, which by the way, is what the FCAT was originally designed to do.

Parents Residing in Broward County, FLORIDA:

"Superintendent of Schools" is: James F. Notter
His email:
supt_notter@browardschools.com

This man is the Superintendent of ALL SCHOOLS located in Broward County, Florida.

WRITE TO HIM. Let him know your feelings on the FCAT, and how it's affecting your child, children, and/or family.

Thanks Deb! I will surely let him know. .

Just found out TODAY: Justin PASSED the ACT test, so it will over-ride the FCAT "if" he failed it. (School hasn't received the scores yet on FCAT).

I read an article on FCAT over-haul in Saturday's Sunsentinel News. Personally, I think it's a JOKE. I'm in the process of drafting a letter to the person who wrote it to give them some honest parent feedback since most political figures have their heads in a cloud.

The article pretty much talks about how legislative officials are working to move back the time of taking the test to give students more time to "retain" what they've learned over the course of the year. Apparently, moving the test from March to May {they think} will make a huge difference in FCAT scores. Justin read the article as well, and we discussed it. He doesn't seem to think it will make much difference for the kids because the FCAT isn't written up on what you've been taught in class.

My son took the FCAT test in March of this year, and they still don't have back the scores. How's a senior supposed to go to school every day without shear dread? Now what? Will students be able to graduate on time, but then be forced to hand back their diplomas in mid July when the scores come back showing they failed it?

Nothing in the article even mentioned the current mandatory status of passing it in order to graduate or be promoted.

Do they honestly think this is a GOOD thing?
Unless I'm missing something...it's only going to prolong a student's anxiety and grief over whether or not they can move onto the next phase of their life: college education, good paying job, or enter the military. You can't get these without a H.S. Diploma. (or GED)

I spoke with a good friend of mine who's taught and worked for the Broward County School System for the past 30 years. The FCAT is loathed by both students and teachers alike he has said, (including himself). I'll be interviewing him this summer in an official capacity, and will be sharing it on here specifically for Florida parents.

I agree with you 100%. Im in 8th grade and the FCAT distracts us from learning whats important.

Hi Writermom,
Please e-mail the letter when you get a chance.I will send it to the superintendent for sure. I know next year is going to be hard for my son and I'm really dreading the fcat for him. He's a SLD student and struggling with school. I really have nothing good to say about Florida'a school system. They are failing most of our children today. My goal is to find a school that can meet his needs.

First of all I want to congradulate your son,I know you are very proud of him.will you give him a big hug for me and tell him I say I wish him all the best in life.I would love to have one of your letters and thank you too.

Yes, thank you for contributing to our "Ban the FCAT forum".

I apologize for not being on here more. As I stated in an earlier post, my son is in his last month of high school, and unfortunately, facing many obstacles just to graduate.

The GOOD thing is that Justin won 6 awards at FSPA in Tampa 2 weeks ago at his Journalism competition. Top categories included: Best Editorial, and Best School Newspaper in the state of Florida. (That's out of 70 schools and over 900 kids) He also won the Silver Cord Award at Senior Awards for meeting the 250 service hours. (he has over triple that)

There are several things in the works to help "ban" the dreaded FCAT. I will be posting info on these as I am able.

I would encourage EVERY FLORIDA PARENT TO WRITE TO THEIR child's SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT. You can find out who this person is by calling your child's school, OR by doing a search on Google. - Ask for the person's full name, phone number, fax number and email address, (if you call your child's school.)

I'm currently drafting a generic letter for parents who would like to use it to send to your child's Superintendent. (I'll insert your personal info if provided.) If you are interested in using my letter, please email me through this website.

Thanks for your help Deb...keep bringing 'em in!

Thank you so much for answering.Writermom and I are trying to get rid of the test and we need more people to write in and sign up.

THE FCAT NEEDS TO GO AWAY!

I AM A FLORIDA RESIDENT
SEMINOLE COUNTY
CHILD IN 2ND GRADE

I am not sure, but I don't think the fcat test is required in private schools.if someone in private school is reading this and I am wrong please correct me. Thank you

Does this standard apply to private schools in Florida as well? Thank you.

emeyers:

Dont' worry...I've got ALL your comments. (Glad to have 'em!)

You are so right. FCAT does not descriminate.

Thanks Deb and emeyers!

I've re-copied my info post at the top for any newcomers.

I have more FCAT information I want to post here, but no time to write it. My son's birthday is today and he just got back from Tampa yesterday from FSPA competition. He placed 6 times, including Excellence for his Editorials, as well as BEST SCHOOL NEWSPAPER in entire state of Florida. (That's out of 70 schools and over 900 students.)

I'm throwing him a surprise birthday/congrats party tonight.

Ironically, we still don't know if he'll graduate...

Please encourage every Florida parent you know to add their thoughts to this post.

Thank you.

Attention ALL FLORIDA RESIDENT- PARENTS...

Are you a Florida resident parent of a child dealing with the constant negative effects of the FCAT? Have you been told that your son or daughter will be retained if they don't pass the FCAT? Is your child's high school years full of anxiety and stress because they've been told they WILL NOT GRADUATE if they fail any portion of the dreaded FCAT?? Would you like to see the FCAT banned for good?

If you've answered "yes" to any of these questions, then here's your chance to speak up about it.

I have received permission from this site to use all of the posts here, but I need your help.

If you are a FLORIDA RESIDENT and would like to post a comment here, please double space after your last sentence and include the following information:

-I am a FLORIDA resident.
-Name of the county your child's school is in
-Your child's grade level

I am asking for the above info mainly to show state officials that these are not phantam posts, but from real parents of real students living in Florida.

Once a substantial amount of posts are logged on this topic I'm going to be sending them all to Tallahassee, as well as superintendents of schools, school boards, local newspapers as well as targeted media.

PLEASE pass this page's url link to your friends and anyone else you know who's battling any FCAT issues.

url link: community.greatschools.net/advice/129/The-Dreaded-FCAT---it-s-secretly-causing-the-demise-of-our-children-?cpage=6&cpn=Com_ImmediateNote#comment_170510

Grab this link and post it inside your emails, or attach it to your "myspace" or "facebook" pages. We need ample feedback from other Florida resident parents so we can be heard.

Thank you.

It is not only the disability kids, it's the regular kids too that can't pass this fcat test.

I want you to know you are not alone,their are a lot of parents agree with you, and we are trying to do something about ending the fcat test in the State of Fl. I believe the people who agree to this can be found to undo what they did.

I want you to know you are not alone,their are a lot of parents agree with you, and we are trying to do something about ending the fcat test in the State of Fl. I believe the people who agree to this can be found to undo what they did.

WriterMom I got your message, and I want you to know I am with you all the way.

It seems to be a common misconception that only students with difficulties can't pass FCAT. This forum shows just the opposite. These comments are full of overacheivers. My daughter has a disability and is in honors classes. Yes she has to work harder, so what. The real world makes no allowances for disabilities in the work place; or I should say the real world expects you to produce even with your disability. My daughter knows this and so do I. Having difficulties does not excuse her from good grades and she studies hard and gets them.

The problem stems from schools trying to teach to a test that can't be studied for. The reason for this is that this test was designed to see what your school was teaching in class. If your student doesn't pass a particular section then the school has a red flag saying, hey! you need to teach this, other schools in the country do. This is not a punishment for the student. Have we lost sight of the fact that this is not a test to asess the student. A, B, C students do not fail tests they can study for. Effectively schools have cramming sessions before the test to try to improve scores. Wasn't it always the teachers who claimed that cramming doesn't work? These cramming sessions give a false sense of accomplishment. It makes the school seem like they are teaching a particular subject that they may not even have classes for. The fact that this test ever became a pass fail test was purely financial for the state. A quick fix to show to the national standard. It is false, it is a lie, it merely looks good on paper. Advanced classes and extracirricular subjects are being dropped every year in this state. How can the grades be getting better when there is less learning opportunities every day. You don't think Tallahassee understands this? Ask the members of the state education department how many of their kids go to private school.

Let's Get Rid Of The Fcat In The State Of Fl. I am a resident of Fl. My daughter attends Duval County School,and she's a 9th grader.

Please add my multiple comments to this list.
Ban FCAT! Like the 10 other states in this country that have thrown out this CAT test from Texas.

I am a Fl. resident
my daughter goes to school in Sarasota County
she is in 9th grade

I'm not sure about the details of this FCAT bill, but will do my best to keep you all posted as soon as I do.

My school board is against FCAT, as many local school boards are. Several years ago in protest the head of our school board pulled out her "validictorian" daughter from public school and put her in private school because she was unable to pass the math test. Florida has one of the highest home school ratios in the country, which coinsidentally coinsides with the implementation of FCAT. We also have waiting lists to get into many private schools (thankyou McKay). When the very people who run the system get so frustrated that they have no power for change, you know we are in trouble.

Can we support this bill in any way? Where was it sent?

In all the years I have been researching and on my soapbox about this issue, I have yet to really find out who can sign on the dotted line to end this problem. I get the governor, the board of education, the dreaded "Tallahassee". I've talked to teachers and they are not even sure where to go to complain. I clap for anyone who sends petitions and letters to the powers that be. But who are the powers that be? There needs to be acountability. I am tired of preaching to the choir. What I would like to do is put pressure on the people who are for FCAT, not converse with those on my side. Does anyone have an influential list of pro-FCAT administration. You know the people that can sign this thing out of existance.

emyers: Well put. I sympathize with your situation, as I'm sure a lot of other Florida parents do. I am going through the same thing with my son, and it has been no picnic.

I often wonder why we even bother giving our children grades anymore. Since the grades the school gives will not ensure that the student will graduate anymore. The nice thing about grades is that we acknowledge that every student as an area of study that they are not proficient in. We allow them to make up for this by extensive study in the areas they have interest in. FCAT is not so forgiving. They give a rediculously easy reading test and a complicted and difficult math test that effectively says every student needs to be a math and science genious. Lets forget about the muscician, artist, or writer, the cook, ditch digger, plumber , mechanic or politician. Lord knows, what the world needs is another algebra wiz!

Does anyone remember the Stanford test. It is still being given at many private schools and is still a standardized test aknowledged by the state of Fl. We never needed the FCAT and it was never designed as a test to decide whether a child would graduate or not. The FCAT is an accesment test to see if the state schools are living up to basic national standards, i.e. the Stanford. If the school is not living up to national standards then how do we expect or children to.

My daughter gets a 3.5 at one of the best schools in the state and yet the one subject keeping her from a 4.0 is math. She gets c's in math and works extremely hard for that. She has dyslexia and sequencing is hard for her. Add to the fact that the state now requires that you take remedial math if you do not pass the FCAT math and you complicate matters. My daughter has never had to take remedial math and now she will be even less prepared to take FCAT because she will not have had everything she needs for the FCAT test since it is not remedial. How is expecting less from her going to help her pass FCAT.

I don't think it is even neccesary to eliminate FCAT, just don't make it a requirement for graduation. My daughter takes honor classes in all her subjects except math and she is a phenominal writer. She is not planning to be a mathmatician. Between the required subjects she must take required by the state and the useless and tedious studying for the test she has little time for subjects in her own field. This state has effectively reqired her to take classes that will not help her in her chosen field which will make her even less prepared for colleges.
Science is another issue, my daughter does well in science but different areas are assigned in different years and the FCAT science test is general info. How can a student answer chemistry questions when they have only studied biology, etc. Her school has answered this buy having an FCAT science class (teaching to the test) and how can anyone learn science by cramming different fields of study into one quarter taught by a teacher that isn't even a science teacher? If I hear one more educational administrative miniun tell me that public schools don't teach to the test I am going to scream!

Bottom line- Florida schools are going downhill fast. I have worked hard to find my daughter the best schools available. She has gone to a private preschool. A magnet gradeschool, and back to a private school for middle school thanks to McKay. Now she is going to a charter military school. She has had some of the best education that this state has to offer and she still can't pass that math FCAT. Can't pass with the best schools and a 3.5 honors student. What does that say about Fl. schools? It says to me that there are plenty of students that are waiting to acheive above and beyond what the country expects, they are waiting for the Fl. schools to stop holding them back.

There is nothing wrong with FCAT as an accessment test for schools. The message is loud and clear. Pay teachers, let the best we have stay in the state, and do what they do best, inspire our kids so that they will reach for the stars. Stop "same page teaching" so that we won't produce "same page students". Stop telling schools what students must take in their schedules and let them study in their fields so that they can be tomorrows next great leaders. I don't care that our state test scores look great to the Governor. We all know why those scores go up, we require less from our students.

Our educational system did not improve with Stanford, nothing got better with Florida Writes, and FCAT restricts our teachers more every year. Do we need tests to tell our educational system that we need to make sure our students can read, can multiply? When are we going to have a test to tell us that our children need to know about our founding fathers? Teachers go to school because they love learning and want to pass this passion on to students. To me if a teacher is not doing their job, there is a much more effective and less costly method to solve the problem, it's called a pink slip.

Thanks Deb!

I have recieve this and will make copies to give to my friends, family,and others. Thank you

I have recieve this and will make copies to give to my friends, family,and others. Thank you

Attention ALL FLORIDA RESIDENT- PARENTS...

Are you a Florida resident parent of a child dealing with the constant negative effects of the FCAT? Have you been told that your son or daughter will be retained if they don't pass the FCAT? Is your child's high school years full of anxiety and stress because they've been told they WILL NOT GRADUATE if they fail any portion of the dreaded FCAT?? Would you like to see the FCAT banned for good?

If you've answered "yes" to any of these questions, then here's your chance to speak up about it.

I have received permission from this site to use all of the posts here, but I need your help.

If you are a FLORIDA RESIDENT and would like to post a comment here, please double space after your last sentence and include the following information:

-I am a FLORIDA resident.
-Name of the county your child's school is in
-Your child's grade level

I am asking for the above info mainly to show state officials that these are not phantam posts, but from real parents of real students living in Florida.

Once a substantial amount of posts are logged on this topic I'm going to be sending them all to Tallahassee, as well as superintendents of schools, school boards, local newspapers as well as targeted media.

PLEASE pass this page's url link to your friends and anyone else you know who's battling any FCAT issues.

url link: community.greatschools.net/advice/129/The-Dreaded-FCAT---it-s-secretly-causing-the-demise-of-our-children-?cpage=6&cpn=Com_ImmediateNote#comment_170510

Grab this link and post it inside your emails, or attach it to your "myspace" or "facebook" pages. We need ample feedback from other Florida resident parents so we can be heard.

Thank you.

This fcat test should'nt be for getting a diploma going out of school, everybody is not going to college,that's just life.some kids are looking forward working,and some kids want to go to college. this test is not acomplishing nothing,so really they need to get rid of the tests.

I agree with you,did school community say it's ok to send this and will it be mail?

Wow..New Jersey is very strict. I keep hearing about more types of unbendable testing being done in other states. Did it ever occur to these test-making-junkies that some kids are just good at taking a test while others totally freeze up at the sight of one?? That being said, it has nothing to do with the content, but more so the physical ACT of taking a test because of the mandated consequences hanging over their heads. If I had to sit down to a test that I knew if I failed I'd not graduate, I'd be sweating bullets.

My generation never had to face such a brutal dilemma, so I don't think a lot of people realize what our kids are going through. I myself have had to take typing tests, proof-reading tests, etc., for some employers over the years. No, I've not passed every one, but at least I can go look for another job. What are seniors supposed to do? Do they really expect kids to say, "No big deal, I'll just graduate next year. Sign me up for the 5 year plan instead." ???

Failing the FCAT is one thing. FORBIDDING seniors from graduating who fail it causes them extreme anxiety, feelings of depression, uncertainty, & failure. Not to mention how demoralizing and stigmitized they must feel when they learn they won't be able to graduate with their friends. Physical ailments have included: headaches, nausea, vomiting, fever, stomach ache, diarrhea, sweats, nervousness, etc.
(Based on what my son and several of his friends have experienced)

You are ABSOLUTELY RIGHT: "One test does NOT measure someone's abilities."

Lawmakers have imposed a serious amount of stress and duress on young people today. Consequences of this magnitude should only be mandated in prisons, not in this country's school system.

Standardized testing is not the problem. Nor is the act of taking a basic test. Kids are taught from grade one how to study and take a test. They are repeatedly tested all throughout their 12 years of schooling. Their days are filled with math tests, spelling tests, reading comprehension tests, science tests, geography tests, not to mention, mid-terms and final exams.

When my kids were in elementary school, they took the IOWA tests. High school tests have included both the ACT and the SAT. ALL of which are considered to be some form of "standardized testing." How much more do they honestly need? I write for a living, but yet I had problems with reading most of my elementary school years and was placed in special reading classes. I hated them, but at least I wasn't tested to death. It wasn't until I entered 8th grade, that my teacher noticed something...I happened to do VERY WELL in reading whenever it was a topic I was truly interested in. If it was boring or too technical, I lost all interest, and never did as well on a test. On a whim, he handed me a Nancy Drew book. I took it home, and read the entire book that night. BINGO. My reading comprehension not only did a complete turn-around, but my love of reading and writing soared.

I think it is abundantly clear to all kids by the time they reach high school, that tests are a part of life, and they know "how" to take a test. By the time students are mid-way through high school, they've been tested to death, and are mentally preparing themselves for the SATs (if they are college bound). NONE of which come with the threat of not graduating if they fail it. (like the FCAT does for seniors)

Several years ago, I worked for a real slimeball. He insisted that everyone be at his 8:30 meetings every Friday. Most of us would show up on time, but there were always 2 or 3 who were consistently late. This infuriated him, even if they showed up 2 minutes late. Finally, one Friday morning, he told me to take notes, and have that person's paycheck deducted for every minute they were late to his meeting. I looked right at him and told him, "You can't do that, it's illegal." He screamed at me to find some other way to make them "pay" for always being late, then he stormed out of the room in disgust. He could care less "why" they were late. His primary goal was to "punish" them for it.

I am in favor of banning the dreaded FCAT because I feel it is unfair to make a high school senior "pay" for not passing a stupid test by taking away his/her right to graduate. ESPECIALLY when they've already done 12 years of time.

My son and I have both had reading issues to overcome in school. Apparently we're doing something right: I've written for Disney, and Justin is the Editor-in-Chief of his school newspaper.

I am sure there are thousands of other kids out there who are also academic achievers. No one test should be the "cure-all, end-all" of a child's knowledge. Nor should it determine the fate of that child's future. We need to stop the state from punishing our kids before it's too late, and we end up with a future of hopeless drop-outs.

To the Parents of Greatschools.com:

Please tell your friends about this site, and invite them here to discuss their own personal stories of how the FCAT is affecting their child's academics, self-esteem, etc. With greatschools.com's permission, I will be forwarding these to Tallahassee as soon as I get 1000 posts on the subject. I truly believe we can BAN THE FCAT altogether, but it's going to take a multitude of parents in this state to get the politicians to listen. As I stated in an earlier post: the state has received enough calls and/or complaints to issue a survey to random schools so kids can fill them out anonymously. While we're waiting on the results of that one, we can hit them up again.

Thanks to the dreaded FCAT, kids are dropping out, becoming severely depressed, and missing out on the best times of their lives. We, as parents all need to unite on behalf of our children.

Thank you.

Tips on how to "pass the word":
Copy and paste this page's url info to your next email, or post a link on your "myspace" website or other site. It doesn't take long for word to spread on the web.

Point well taken bigguy, however, your assumption is wrong.

My son has passed tests many times over the years, and yes, he's well educated on the fact that in order to work in the real world, one may be required to take a test or two. (His father is a Code Enforcement Officer with the City of Fort Lauderdale, and his grandfather a police officer. Both men had to take a few tests to get to where they are.) We are both very much aware of this.

However, I disagree with you about tests being here to "stay." ESPECIALLY the FCAT. I just learned that because there has been so many complaints, that the state has issued an anonymous survey of not only the contents of the FCAT test, but also questions pertaining to the material that teachers actually "teach" the children to prepare them for this test, how much time it's actually taking away from their core studies, etc. Other questions on the survey pertain to stress levels and anxiety seniors feel over not graduating if results of the test don't meet the state's mandatory requirements.

For the record: As a writer & editor, I've often been given detailed writing tests that also include pages of editing errors as part of the hiring process prior to being employed in my profession.

I strive to not speak "negatively" to my son, but rather constructively, and in truth.

There are many certified "doctors" out there who have mistakenly amputated the wrong leg, or left surgical supplies inside of a sewn up body, and they all took "tests" at one point to become certified in their field. Does taking a test automatically make them "smart" and an expert in their field. I think not.

When I sought out a procedure 10 years ago, I surely did not walk into the doctor's office and ask to see if he was "certified" then sign on the dotted line. I researched many doctors for 5 years prior to having surgery. I later worked for a well known doctor that was famous for a specific type of procedure, and even HE said that to be "Board Certified" is nothing but a crock. ANYONE can take a TEST. It's what you do on a daily basis that proves how much you actually KNOW.

If your son fails the test again the problem is not the test. The problem is a combination of two issues. 1) Your sons teacher is not teaching the correct content. If your son can't pass the test...how does he get an A in class? The test is designed around the state standards so his class should address them. The class is obviously not awarding grades according to mastery of the state standards. The problem is in the content taught in class. 2) My assumption is that you talk negatively about the test in front of your child. This is doing ZERO for his personal responsibility. The tests are here to stay. Maybe you have found a good job without needing to take a test, but the vast majority of us are required to take tests to get a job - Doctors take the MCAT and lawyers take the LSAT and so on and so on. Talk to your son about the importance of tests and why we need them.

Do you want a doctor operating on you that couldn't pass the required tests. I think not. Test are needed to measure competency.

You are so welcome, and thank you. You have help me and my children understand more about this Dreaded Fcat. I just hope and pray we get rid of the fcat test one day.

This is an absolutely incredible forum. Many thanks to all you cheerleader moms out there with your words of encouragement!

GOD bless you and your child

I agree with you.

Yes, you are so right. some of our kids are going to see no sence in finishing high school if they are not going to get a diploma. I see more of our kids dropping out. all we have to do is wait, the school system will see their mistake soon. I believe they already see it and now trying to make changes with the act and sat test.

I was reading your post from a few days ago. I am so happy to hear Justin has an alternate plan of meeting graduation requirements.

Best wishes, Justin & Writermom!

In response to JAMEELA10,

That's already been happening, and is tragic.

I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU "WRITERMOM", IT IS TOTALLY LUDICRIS HOW THE DEPT. OF EDUCATION IS STRESSING OUR CHILDREN. THEY DON'T SEEM TO REALIZE THAT THE MORE THEY PUSH AND IMPLEMENT THIS FORMULA/TACTIC ON OUR KID'S ,OUR CHILDREN ARE AT A HIGHER LEVEL OF STREAMING AWAY FROM PROGRESSING ACADEMICALLY.HENCE, STATISTICALLY SPEAKING OUR HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION %TILE CAN ONLY BE EXPECTED TO DROP IMMENSLY IN THE YEARS TO COME.THE SYSTEM WILL PRESSURE OUR CHILDREN TO THE POINT WHERE THEY WON'T WANT TO STRIVE AND ACHIEVE THEIR EDUCATIONAL GOALS.

I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU "WRITERMOM", IT IS TOTALLY LUDICRIS HOW THE DEPT. OF EDUCATION IS STRESSING OUR CHILDREN. THEY DON'T SEEM TO REALIZE THAT THE MORE THEY PUSH AND IMPLEMENT THIS FORMULA/TACTIC ON OUR KID'S ,OUR CHILDREN ARE AT A HIGHER LEVEL OF STREAMING AWAY FROM PROGRESSING ACADEMICALLY.HENCE, STATISTICALLY SPEAKING OUR HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION %TILE CAN ONLY BE EXPECTED TO DROP IMMENSLY IN THE YEARS TO COME.THE SYSTEM WILL PRESSURE OUR CHILDREN TO THE POINT WHERE THEY WON'T WANT TO STRIVE AND ACHIEVE THEIR EDUCATIONAL GOALS.

Thank you, for helping me understand and look at this test in another perspective. But I still say a student should not be denied a high school diploma for not pass the fcat,that's wrong for all of our students here in the state of fl.

Standardized tests like these are just trying to establish a higher level of comprehension in whatever aspect of education. I agree that it is definitely out of place that such an outstanding student score so low, but that's the risk in taking all tests. I do believe that there should be programs to help better prepare your son for this reading exam, or just basic at-home reading exercises in particular to better his reading skill.

It's hard for me to believe that such a test like the FCAT could have the power to deny a student his or her graduation diploma, but I suppose things are different here in California than Florida. That is all I feel that is wrong with the FCAT; other than that, I don't feel there should be a reason to ban it or get rid of it. The purpose of a standards test is to realize where a student stands according to that standard. I suppose taking away graduation is an incentive to do better; indeed I would dedicate so much of my time to prepare for this test if I was going to be denied graduation because of it.

All that seems right for me to say is that I hope your son scores higher next time. Even if some FCAT test brands him a "failure," of course that shouldn't hinder his ambitions to succeed. It should fuel it. Everyone has their weaknesses. Anyone who degrades your son's abilities and strengths based on his reading level/FCAT score cannot be labeled very intelligent in my book.

Thanks

You are a very good mother and we see that you are their for your child. Maybe the school system will see one day how this fcat test is affecting all of our children.

Ok, I am glad to hear from you that everything is ok. You are doing the right thing by talking to your child. that's what we are hear for our children.

Hi Snowflake...

Awwwe...THANK YOU! I tend to agree with you on that one! ;)

Yes, it was definitely something a mother does not want to hear from her child. However, I knew it was more of a figure of speech due to stress overload than anything else.

Justin has never had a hard time reading and/or writing, nor has he ever had difficulty taking tests. It's just this ONE in particular FCAT reading segment. Ironically, he's not alone. The majority of his friends, (over 100) have also failed the reading section. It's almost as if whoever created it, designed it specifically to make kids fail.

I've been told by a good friend of mine, (who's been a high school teacher for many years) that he, along with every other teacher he knows, absolutely abhors the FCAT. He has seen first-hand the stress induced factor it places on students, (especially seniors), as well as the educators. He complained openly about the fact that he has to take valuable time out of his teaching schedule, (2-3 days) just so he can prep his students for it.

It still baffles me to know that an entire school is granted an "A thru F" grade based solely on what 10th graders know in any given year. My son's school has had a "D" rating since he's been in it. Given the fact that hundreds of students have taken this test over the past 4 years, it eludes me as to WHY it even exists. Meaning: it can't all be the "students" lack of understanding or comprehension. There's got to be something lacking in the test itself.

Despite my son's school being labeled a "D" school, he has openly thrived academically these last four years. For the past 2 years, he's made "B" Honor Roll. This year, he made "A" Honor Roll. He has several hundred hours of community service to his credit, (only need 40 to graduate), he's the President of the Animal Rights Club; last year, he was made Editor-in-Chief of his school newspaper, (of which he still holds title to), and was also the school's Busines Manager - (They gave him his own office for that one.) He's been responsible for organizing the candy drives, and car washes for fund-raising events. He's currently preparing for states competition in Tampa this month for Journalism and Photography. (Both of which he's entered). I've been told he will be honored later this month on Senior Awards Day for all of his achievements, and that he's elligible for several scholarships upon graduation.

I am in awe of my son's achievements thus far. Everyone on campus knows who he is. All I have to do is say, "I'm Justin's Mom" and they roll out the red carpet. Frankly, I wouldn't have it any other way...

He may be attending a "D" school, but he'll ALWAYS be an A+ in my book. Lord knows, he's surely earned it.

Thank you for your feedback! :)


(I'm way ahead of you on the portfolio. I have already put together a professional resume for Justin, and his Journalism teacher and I have been working on his portfolio.)

Writermon, I understood where you were coming from and am so happy to hear that your son has found a solution. He seems like a really great kid! : )

No..no. I did not mean to imply that my son is suicidal, by any means. It was simply an expression of disgust he was feeling over having no control over his academic achievements after he's worked so hard for so many years. The FCAT dilemma had just taken its toll on him. We talked it out, and I always encourage him to vent, especially whenever he finds himself very stressed. He has since, found an alternate solution, and it has lifted a tremendous weight off his shoulders now that he knows there's no threat to him being able to graduate in June.

O LORD, if your child is that depress to the point he told you he will kill hisself you need to get help fast. take him to a dr. they will give him some medicine for depression.

It is heartbraking how our very special children with all of the enthusiasm for learning and potential in the world, are being placed at risk because of stress and repercussions placed on them - from these tests, and sometimes by schools in general. It must have been a shock for you to hear your son say he'll "kill himself" or feel that way. Does he have any difficulty reading or just about taking this test or orthers? It sounds like the sheer pressure it poses in itself is enough to cause kids to fail it. I personally do not believe in the validity of standardized testing in general, in rating schools or individual acheivement, and there is reserach that demonstrates that there are other factors that come into play which influence their outcome rather than what is learned. Your son sounds gifted and his "D' rated school seems like a prety good place, if he is accomplishing so much, motivated to learn, has friends and is happy. Is there any possibility of submitting a portfolio of acocmplishments, or of finding an educational advocate? I really wish you the best with this. This should be a happy year for him to enjoy his many accomplishments , although he is fortunate to have someone who is on his side. Perhaps knowing that can go a long way, also .

I know a lot of parents will be glad when they get rid of this fcat test in fl. and all the rest of the states that have a test like this one. We all can have a big celebration party. On that day everybody need to eat a cupcake. (SMILE) I am going to add some icecream with mine.

I am checking into this waver with my childs school. They have not got back with me. Soon as I hear something I will let you know.

I live in New Jersey and my kids take the NJASK standardized tests. My older daughter told me today while I was reading this thread that her teacher (she is in 7th grade) say she hates standardized testing. Her teacher said no one knows the kids like their teachers do. She said she knows it causes the kids too much stress and if a kid is up late the night before the test they might not do well. One test does not measure someone's abilities! NJ has a test that they give in 8th grade called the Grade Eight Proficiency Assessment. It is given to all New Jersey public-schooled students in March of their eighth grade year. It is often known as the "preparation test" for the High School Proficiency Assessment , which has similar rules and information. If kids don't pass this test they can't move on to high school. I think we should do away with standardized testing and let the teachers decide what child is prepared enough to move on to the next grade.

Hi again 2kidss...

I tried to open this but my computer is having issues with it.

Question: Can you still request a waiver if a senior has already retaken the FCAT, (but failed it?) Or does the request need to be made ahead of time..?

Again, sure appreciate your feedback!

Thanks again for the tip and the site! I'll be checking it out..

I read at the dept of ed site it says if a child is proven to be on sunshine state standards and still couldnt pass the 10th grade fcat they can apply for a waiver so they can get a stadard diploma instead of a cert of completion. Im not talking about an fcat waiver in lower grades. heres a link to the page again!!

www.fldoe.org/ese/pdf/hs-fact.pdf

I heard the wavier and the alternative test is for severely LD students. Please If you have more info please post. Also for those who are going to request a wavier post back and let us know how it went.

I'm also considereing requesting a wavier. When I spoke to my child's teacher about It her exact words were "GOOD LUCK"!!!!

I've never heard of a waiver. Thanks for letting me know. I will look into this at my childs school.The school told me that they have my son's Diploma, and will keep it, and soon as he pass the fcat, the act, or the sat he can get his diploma. If my son don't pass I guess the school will keep it. I will look into this.

www.fldoe.org/ese/pdf/hs-fact.pdf

here's a link to fcat waiver

this is for schools in FL and the schools never told me about it I found out from a friend who has an autistic high achieving son who just put him in public HS. She is going to waive his fcat. His grades are good but standarized tests are a nightmare

Yes, that is true about Gov. Jeb Bush. I've also heard the same thing about Obama. Although I have a hard time trusting politicians...

Yes, our Gov. BUSCH that's no longer in office in the state of Fl. did this to our kids. Don't know if it's true but I heard that if OBAMA makes president he is going to get rid of the fcat. Whoever make it I hope they get rid of it.

My thoughts EXACTLY.

Dread over the FCAT AND TAKS? Florida and Texas? What a surprise, two Bush-governed sates.

Thank you for the tip, I'll definitely look into it. I've never heard of an FCAT waiver. Are you sure this is for all schools? I'll definitely look into it! Thanks!!

fcat is a bittersweet word here! Glad that its over and sad because I know my dyslexic dd will fail it:( Anyway Im with you about it! As far as your son have you thought about an fcat waiver?? If a kid fails fcat in senior year you can file for an fcat waiver and show just cause and it sure sounds like you have just cause!! How can they fail a kid with a 4.0?
Mine is in 6th and they talk retention all the time. I have an advocate who is working on promotion based on her reading gains! She has an IEP so hopefully all will work out! especially since 6th is NOT a mandatory retention year like 3rd. I thought about homeschool but for my dd the social issue is soooooo important. Even though school is hard I moved her back into public school this yr and she is soo happy because of her friends. And she really doesnt work well with me:(

I don't understand why our educational community feels the need to bully kids into learning in order for them to pass each grade legitimately. They've definitely taken the joy out of learning for kids who go to schools in America.

I agree with you 100% and if you ever get that dotted line to sign pass it on to me i will sign it hands down! My daughter is in 6th grade and every year its the same thing for her a week of stress, loss of sleep, its just plain stupid that they have so much pressure on them. One of my daughters teachers even went as far as to tell her if she fails she will not go into 7th grade!! she wasnt scared enough to begin with now shes downright terrified! i told her to do her best and try not to stress, its easier to say then to do tho, why cant they just let kids be kids and not put so much pressure on them so young....

I don't have nothing to say. This women has said it all. She has explained this very well. I am glad someone sent a letter to THE WHITE HOUSE. This is what I have been trying to say Let's get rid of the fcat because I know it is not fair to our students. I don't know why some parents don't see what's really happening with this fcat and our children.

It's funny that you mention this. Just yesterday, my son told me that one of his writers for the school newspaper has written and proposed a "bill" on her own, about ridding Florida schools of the FCATs altogether, and sent it to Washington. He just learned that they've received it, and that it is actually being considered.

Yes. Even the teachers are up in arms over this sorry excuse of a test. My son has spoken with several teachers at his school, and they all agree it causes undue stress and anxiety more than anything else for all included. And YES, we are aware of similar situations in Texas over their TAKS. I don't think that there's been any kind of public feedback within the school system until now. His ongoing frustration with this test, (along with my angst as a parent) is what prompted him to write about it in the first place. He obtained interviews from several students, as well as teachers in his article. Not one had anything good to say about it.

Is there a ground swell of anger about the FCAT? Are parents going to do something about it? What's happening at your son's high school? By the way, I keep hearing similar stories coming out of Texas about the TAKS.

Have you discussed this with your school board? Or even your legislator?