As a mother of children in Florida schools I haven’t come across to many parents or teachers that are happy with the FCAT’s (Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test). I remember when I was in school we took this test I believe once. It was not a test you were graded on it was a test the school was graded on. However over the years the test has evolved into the “test of all test“.
Pros: This test I do believe it is a good test to gauge overall knowledge of the student. It is a somewhat fairly good picture of what the child has learned and retained during the school year. It is a gauge of how well the teacher is has done at teaching her students and gives you insight to their strengths and weaknesses.
Are we putting to much pressure on our children? I remember the days of SAT Tutoring wanting to make sure you scored high to help get you into the college of your dreams. However FCAT tutoring seems to be a little much. My son has been taking FCAT tutoring twice a week in the morning before school at the recommendation of his teacher in preparation for the FCAT Writes.
Cons: Because this test is linked to school funded teachers are pressured to make sure the children get good grades. I believe teachers are now forced to teach children HOW to past the test, instead of focuses sometimes on the material itself.
Cons: My number one beef with this test is the stress it puts on my children. It has been drilled into them all year long how important these test are. In third grade you have to pass the test to advance. Definitely not something I’m fond of. One test should not determine your pass or fail of a grade. My oldest son did not sleep the night before his third grade test and almost threw up the next morning because he was so nervous.
Readers Comment:
“I TOTALLY agree w/you Colleen. My husband is an elementary teacher and he HATES the FCAT. He gets a HUGE amount of pressure for his kids to get good FCAT scores, and is always concerned for his job if his Title 1 kids don’t pass. He almost doesn’t like teaching because he can’t actually teach material- he feels like all he does is FCAT prep all year. He actually has district people come into his classroom to make sure he has the right posters on his wall- seriously- or they’ll cite him! Posters? Because that really helps our kids learn- geez! Sorry- this is a sore subject for us even on the educators end! I have actually taken part of the FCAT test and it is a JOKE. Seriously- the only thing you need to know for the FCAT is how to read and comprehend what you read. There was no true science or math. If you could read the question and the paragraph ALL the answers are right there. That only tests the kids that can comprehend what they read- not actually test them on the subject material! Anyways….sorry to rant! I think it is a sorry situation all the way around for kids AND teachers. 🙁“
The kids eat, sleep, and breathe FCAT preparation as the testing time approaches. I feel bad for not only the students that get nervous and worried but for the teachers that are pressured to make sure their children do well on the test, knowing this is what could make or break them.
Self Care Girl says
I really think you have hit the nail on the head. Same sort of testing in Washington State and teaching kids to pass the test is exactly what happens here too.
Christy says
Yes. THAT. What you said. I'm a Florida mom, too and while my boys aren't in school yet, I still hear plenty about the dreadful FCATs. Gone are the days of well rounded FLorida students. Now, if it isn't on the FCAT, they don't need to learn it {or so the school system's attitude seems to be}.
Christy
http://shakethesalt.com
mmbear says
I am a new follower on the I Love My Online Friends Monday Hop and I am now following you thru GFC. I have someone working on my blog today and when you go on it as I just did it is still in process but you can GFC me and just leave a comment in any of the past articles. Hopefully, by tomorrow, I will have all my buttons back up. Thanks for the follow back.
Mary @ http://mmbearcupoftea.blogspot.com
The Teacher's Wife says
I TOTALLY agree w/you Colleen. My husband is an elementary teacher and he HATES the FCAT. He gets a HUGE amount of pressure for his kids to get good FCAT scores, and is always concerned for his job if his Title 1 kids don't pass. He almost doesn't like teaching bc he can't actually teach material- he feels like all he does is FCAT prep all year. He actually has district people come into his classroom to make sure he has the right posters on his wall- seriously- or they'll cite him! Posters? Bc that really helps our kids learn- geez! Sorry- this is a sore subject for us even on the educators end! I have actually taken part of the FCAT test and it is a JOKE. Seriously- the only thing you need to know for the FCAT is how to read and comprehend what you read. There was no true science or math. If you could read the question and the paragraph ALL the answers are right there. That only tests the kids that can comprehend what they read- not actually test them on the subject material! Anyways….sorry to rant! I think it is a sorry situation all the way around for kids AND teachers. 🙁
Lisa says
we live in IL so its ISATs here but pretty sure its the same type of test and yes the teachers now spend 90% of their time teaching to the test. my first graders teacher even admitted that they don't do much writing in first grade because they are too worried about teaching the reading skills needed for these tests. the freedom has been taken away from the teachers to teach kids to learn for the love of learning. if something isn't going to be tested it's a waste of time. I really wish I had the backbone for politics so I could really do soemthing about our education system!!
Courtney @ Scraps and Scribbles says
As a graduate of the Florida high school system and someone who had to take the FCAT, I totally agree with you. I hated the FCAT! I think that all of the prep time teachers are required to have just takes away from the real learning.
Mary Elderton says
I was for years a Texas teacher with kids of my own in school. I agree that this sort of testing has its place. What I hate is that, in emphasizing the learning discrete facts and how to test, we are neglecting to teach kids how to think. There is a basic pool of facts that we all need to know–basic timeline of history, general feel for geography, an outline of how our government works, an overview of how biology works, etc. However, this general pool of facts should not be the end of education! These facts should be the springboard for researching details, for knowing what questions to ask and how to find the answers, how to evaluate ideas. That is what is lost when the test becomes the complete measure of either students or teachers performance
The standardized tests also neglect to account for student development–the kid who flunks Algebra in the ninth grade (this is why the drop out rates in 9th and 10th grades are the highest) may go one to be something of a whiz by the time he is more fully developed. (I have a personal story that can attest to this!) Kids grow different skills at different rates and standardized tests may not reveal that.
So, yes, we need such tests to get a general feel for what kids are learning. But reducing the entire measure of “education” to this level is a great loss for learning.
Tammy says
Standardized testing is one of the reasons we decided to homeschool. Our daughter works ahead of grade level, and since most of the teaching was directed toward a test she could easily pass, she was learning virtually nothing in the system. We still have to test at certain grade levels for State Purposes (2, 5, 8 and 11) – we opted to have our daughter do the ACT (alternate to the SAT) as she has been taking it since 6th grade, and she outperformed the average senior (she is a freshman just this year) for the past two years by 10 points….sigh…
Shasta says
So true! My kids went to an “A” school in FL and the test was talked about from day 1. So much pressure! It did feel good to know they were in one of the best schools though!