F-TREND
Florida Test Reform Email News Digest Your weekly source of news from the Florida Coalition for Assessment Reform (FCAR)  Visit us on the web at www.trendigest.info.

v. 2 no. 1 - January 11, 2004

This Week’s News
 

Truth in Testing 2004 -- Drive-In Conference

 

· February 14, 2004, 9:30 AM - 4 PM

Orlando Public Library, 3rd floor, Albertson Room

101 E. Central Blvd.

 

· Co-sponsored by FCAR, R.A.T.P.A.C.K. (Really Angry Teachers, Parents and Activists Coalition for Kids), of Manatee, Florida ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) , and FCAT Changes, of Indian River County 

 

· At the Truth in Testing 2004 web site, http://www.shermandorn.com/fcar04/, you'll find updated information about the conference. Check out the Overview for a look at the tentative schedule, speakers, and presenters.

 

· You can register for the conference at http://www.shermandorn.com/fcar04/registration.php. Only those attending the live conference in Orlando need to pay the $10 fee (which will cover on-site lunch for all registrants). To apply for a waiver of the registration fee, contact Gloria at gpipkin@.... Those who can't attend the Orlando events can register for the free online conference.

 

· If you have any questions or problems with the site, contact Nance Confer at marbleface@... or Sherman Dorn at sdorn@....

 

 

Call for Papers

The focus of the conference is on our legislative campaign for parental access to graded FCAT materials, but we will also address the ills of FCAT more generally. Presenters at the face-to-face conference in Orlando are invited to post their materials to the online conference as well so that those who can't make it to Orlando can still participate in the discussion.

Registrants for the online conference are also invited to post informal position papers and statements on FCAT and related assessment issues. Don't let the academic trappings put you off -- no abstract is required, and footnotes and bibliographies are strictly optional. There is no minimum or maximum length or prescribed format.

Visit the link above and follow the "Submissions" option for additional information.

 

 

State grades its 67 school districts
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/auto/epaper/editions/wednesday/news_f32f742e85da611d00fb.html
By Kimberly Miller

Palm Beach Post
December 31, 2003

Not content to grade children, schools, and neighborhoods, and obsessed with manipulating data, the state now assigns grades to each school district. A chart accompanying the article shows grades given to each district. -- EDs

Florida's Department of Education calculated report card-style grades for each of the state's 67 school districts in September, but did not notify the districts or release them publicly. The rating was done because Gov. Jeb Bush was curious how districts would do if they were graded in the same way as individual schools, DOE spokeswoman Frances Marine said.
 

 

State wants more to take FCAT
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-locfcat01010104jan01,1,6526105.story?coll=orl-news-headlines
By Leslie Postal

Orlando Sentinel
January 1, 2004
 

Florida DOE's concern with the number of students with disabilities who take an alternate assessment is no doubt motivated by NCLB, which penalizes districts that exempt more than 1% of students form the standard assessment. -- EDs

 

Too many Florida students with disabilities took an alternative test instead of the FCAT in 2003, limiting their educational options, the Florida Department of Education said in a memo released Wednesday. Most students with disabilities should be taught the standard curriculum, take the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test and graduate with a regular diploma, according to Jim Warford, the department's chancellor who oversees kindergarten-to-12th-grade education.
 

 

Federal reform has failed, rivals agree

http://desmoinesregister.com/news/stories/c4780927/23170450.html

By Jonathan Roos
Des Moines Register

January 5, 2004

A succinct summary of the positions of most of the Democratic presidential candidates in regard to NCLB, as expressed in the televised debate on January 4, 2004 -- EDs

Democratic presidential candidates roundly criticized President Bush's education policies Sunday, especially the federal school-reform law that Bush championed.

 

 

Sophomores getting ready for vital test
http://news-press.com/news/cape/040106fcat.html

By Pedro Morales
Ft. Myers News-Press
January 6, 2004
 

Lee County sophomores talk about the stresses of FCAT. -- ED

Cape Coral High School sophomore Dena Damron is hoping this is the year she beats the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. The 15-year-old is surrounded by friends who say they’ll study with her for as long as it takes to pass the mandatory test. The writing portion is scheduled for Feb. 10. The reading and math portions are scheduled in early March. They cheered her up last week while on Christmas vacation at Edison Mall and told her it wasn’t that bad of a test. She wasn’t convinced. “It’s getting worse. I’m getting really worried I won’t pass it and then I have to take it next year,” she said.
 

 

Special ed students, schools put to test
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/education/7660885.htm

By Matthew I. Pinzur
Miami Herald

January 8, 2004
 

''I have Down syndrome kids forced to take the FCAT and they don't even know how to bubble in [an answer sheet],'' said Ivan Baratz, an advocate for special-education students in Broward County. ``We don't need to put their face in the mud and kill their self-esteem.''

 

President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act is pressing states to test more special-education students and holding schools more accountable for their scores -- a plan some say hurts them.
 

 

Sessions help students gear up for FCAT
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/states/florida/counties/miami-dade/cities_neighborhoods/northwest/7649124.htm

By Elizabeth Baier

Miami Herald
January 8, 2004
 

More tutors than takers turn up for FCAT practice in North Miami Beach. -- EDs

Only one student showed up for the first Homework Zone tutoring session for the FCAT, but organizations expect more.

 

Students gear up for FCAT: High-stakes test determines letter grades for public schools

http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/news/011004/Local/ST003.shtml

By Jenny LaCoste
Pensacola News Journal

January 10, 2004

 

"After Christmas break, everything is about getting kids prepared for FCAT," said Terry Brown, a social studies teacher at Ransom Middle School. "There isn't time for anything else."

The countdown has begun. Less than five weeks from now, students throughout Florida will sharpen their pencils for the high-stakes test that determines a child's academic future and a school's reputation.
 

Commentary/Opinion

 

From high stakes to embedded learning: Technology-based assessment needs to change direction

http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStoryts.cfm?ArticleID=4816
By Steven E. Miller

eSchool News
January 1, 2004

 

A tech expert and advocate who refuses to make himself rich by jumping on the data-driven/disaggregation bandwagon proposes technology-based assessment that "gives meaningful information about each student, guides day-to-day instructional decision-making, and also serves as a learning process for the students." -- EDs

The dictionary definition of "assessment" does not include the taking of high-stakes final exams. But that's how the word is being increasingly used. In the context of schools' legal requirements to meet Adequate Yearly Progress goals, assessment means accountability as defined by the reporting requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act.

 

 

Boxed in: Education should be about more than storing facts
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/orl-edpbrady06010604jan06,1,469188.story?coll=orl-opinion-headlines
By Marion Brady

Orlando Sentinel
January 6, 2004

Any chance we might launch a "Marion Brady for Commissioner of Education" campaign? -- EDs

Blame this column on a truckload of roof trusses I followed into town yesterday afternoon. Longtime critics of my columns know that one of my favorite subjects is the curriculum. I'm convinced that too much of what kids are made to study is "ritual knowledge," taught not because serious people have given serious thought to its value, but simply because it's been taught for generations.

 

 

The Rotten Apples in Education Awards 2003

http://www.educationnews.org/rotten-apples-2003.htm

By Gerald W. Bracey

Education News
January 7, 2004

Florida governor Jeb Bush leads Jerry Bracey's 2003 Rotten Apples in Education Awards with three listings. -- EDs

 

On The Air

 

On Jan. 15, 2004, Stan Karp of Rethinking Schools will be debating NCLB with the undersecretary of education, Eugene Hickock, on the NPR show, Justice Talking. The show will be taped in Philadelphia at that time, but edited and broadcast at a later date. The format has the two on stage for 90 minutes responding to questions from the moderator, the audience, and questions submitted by e-mail.

The Justice Talking web site is at http://www.justicetalking.org. People are invited to submit questions and/or comments about NCLB and the impact it is having in your schools.

We'll keep you posted on the air date.

On the Web

 

http://www.ascd.org/publications/researchbrief/volume1/v1n24.html

An ASCD Research Brief on "High School Exit Assessments: Features, Effects, and Costs"

 

Recommended Reading

 

Phi Delta Kappan, January 2004

National and State Writing Tests: The Writing Process Betrayed by Edgar H. Schuster

http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/k0401sch.htm

 

Quote of The Week

 

When our children fail competency tests, the schools lose funding. When our missiles fail tests, we increase funding. ~ Dennis Kucinich
 

 

''If you have a team of professionals with parental input, who is Gov. Bush to tell us these kids have to take the FCAT?'' ~ Iris Hyatt, special education teacher at Coral Gables Senior High, quoted in Miami Herald, January 8, 2004

 

F-TREND is a project of  the Florida Coalition for Assessment Reform (www.fcar.info).

John L. Perry and Gloria Pipkin, editors

 

Links in this e-newsletter may change or expire on a daily or weekly basis. Some links may also require local website registration, which is generally free.

Have you seen an article, web site, book, or other resource you think should be recommended in F-TREND?

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F-TREND
Florida Test Reform Email News Digest Your weekly source of news from the Florida Coalition for Assessment Reform (FCAR).  Visit us on the web at www.trendigest.info.

January 4, 2004

Note: We'll be back on our regular publication schedule next week. Look for F-TREND No. 24 on Sunday, January 11, 2004.

Truth in Testing 2004 -- Drive-In Conference

 

w February 14, 2004, 9:30 AM - 4 PM

Orlando Public Library, 3rd floor, Albertson Room

101 E. Central Blvd.

 

w Co-sponsored by FCAR, R.A.T.P.A.C.K. (Really Angry Teachers, Parents and Activists Coalition for Kids), of Manatee, and Florida ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now)

 

w At the Truth in Testing 2004 web site, http://www.shermandorn.com/fcar04/, you'll find updated information about the conference. Check out the Overview for a look at the tentative schedule, speakers, and presenters.

 

w Since our last report, several new presenters -- including Marion Brady, Sherman Dorn, and Bob Lange of UCF -- have committed. Dave Miner is organizing the rally in beautiful Eola Park across from the library, and with Dave in charge, it promises to be the highlight of the gathering.

 

w You can register for the conference at http://www.shermandorn.com/fcar04/registration.php. Only those attending the live conference in Orlando need to pay the $10 fee (which will cover on-site lunch for all registrants). To apply for a waiver of the registration fee, contact Gloria at gpipkin@.... Those who can't attend the Orlando events can register for the free online conference.

 

w If you have any questions or problems with the site, contact Nance Confer at marbleface@... or Sherman Dorn at sdorn@....

 

Call for Papers

The focus of the conference is on our legislative campaign for parental access to graded FCAT materials, but we will also address the ills of FCAT more generally. Presenters at the face-to-face conference in Orlando are invited to post their materials to the online conference as well so that those who can't make it to Orlando can still participate in the discussion.

Registrants for the online conference are also invited to post informal position papers and statements on FCAT and related assessment issues. Don't let the academic trappings put you off -- no abstract is required, and footnotes and bibliographies are strictly optional. There is no minimum or maximum length or prescribed format.

Visit the link above and follow the "Submissions" option for additional information.

 

F-TREND is a project of  the Florida Coalition for Assessment Reform (www.fcar.info).

John L. Perry and Gloria Pipkin, editors

Have you seen an article, web site, book, or other resource you think should be recommended in F-TREND?

Send the URL to suggestions@...

Subscribe: F-TREND-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
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List owner: F-TREND-owner@yahoogroups.com

 

F-TREND
Florida Test Reform Email News Digest Your weekly source of news from the Florida Coalition for Assessment Reform (FCAR).  Visit us on the web at www.trendigest.info.

v. 1 no. 22 - December 28, 2003

This Week’s News

Core program falls out of favor
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031223/NEWS/312230404/1039
By Andrew Dunn
The Ledger [Lakeland]
December 23, 2003
 

The Core Knowledge curriculum, a product of E.D. Hirsch's cultural literacy emphasis of the 1980s, is losing ground to FCAT prep in Polk County, where it had a strong foothold. Meanwhile, Core Knowledge officials rush to "align" their program with state standards. -- EDs

Most schools in Polk County no longer bear the torch for Core Knowledge. In 1997, the School District adopted into its elementary curriculum a comprehensive content-based program called the Core Knowledge Sequence. Middle schools were added the following year. Then-Superintendent Glenn Reynolds was an enthusiastic supporter of the program. But Reynolds is gone, and three of the schools that had been the program's biggest supporters and were certified by the Core Knowledge Foundation have all but abandoned the idea.

 

 

New FCAT rules raise concerns: More special-ed students will have to take test
http://www.news-press.com/news/local_state/031226testing.html

By Jennifer Booth Reed
The News-Press [Southwest FL]

December 26, 2003
 

Those who keep touting a "rigorous" curriculum for all students would do well to ponder the definition of the word. Do we really want our children held to standards that are "very severe" and "harsh"? -- EDs

 

New federal testing regulations mean that all students with disabilities — except for the ones with the most severe mental impairments — will be taking standardized exams such as the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Tests. The requirements, announced this month, say that just 1 percent of a school district’s population may take an alternative and less rigorous reading and math test. The rules are part of the No Child Left Behind Act that is governing American schools today.

 

Commentary/Opinion

Exorcise horrors Of inequity to make FCAT fair, useful

http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artikkel?SearchID=73157643724652&Avis=LL&Dato=20031222&Kategori=NEWS&Lopenr=312220306&Ref=AR

By Kristi Slagel

The Ledger [Lakeland]

December 22, 2003

 

A college student from Polk County speaks out against FCAT. -- EDs

 

 

Public education fails

http://reese.king-online.com/Reese_20031222/index.php

By Charley Reese

King Features Syndicate

December 22, 2003

 

Although we disagree with Charley Reese's ultimate conclusions about public education, he has considerable insight into the effects of high stakes testing. Reese was a longtime columnist for the Orlando Sentinel. -- EDs

We cannot correct what's wrong with public education using mandatory tests. The main problem with public education is that it is a political institution controlled by politicians. They have screwed it up, but as usual, they will not admit their own failings and instead blame teachers, students and parents.

 

Defending the indefensible FCAT

http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/Opinion/LettersToTheEditor/03LetterLET122303.htm

Letter to the editor by Bill Archer

Daytona Beach News Journal
December 23, 2003

A school counselor in Volusia County responds to Jim Horne's defense of the FCAT. While the FCAT is hardly the prototype of the NAEP, as the letter-writer suggests, his criticisms of the secret test are generally on target. -- EDs
 

 

State should reconsider FCAT testing requirements
http://gainesvillesun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artikkel?SearchID=73157467007655&Avis=GS&Dato=20031224&Kategori=EDITORIALS02&Lopenr=31223014&Ref=AR

By Taniekia Parker

Gainesville Sun
December 24, 2003
 

An Alachua senior who will take the FCAT exit exam for the fifth time this spring, shares her perspective. -- EDs

 

Fcar News

 

Truth in Testing

FCAR is hosting a drive-in conference and rally in Orlando on Saturday, February 14, 2004, at the Orlando Public Library. The focus of the conference is on our legislative campaign for parental access to graded FCAT materials, but we will also address the ills of FCAT more generally. Florida ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) and R.A.T.P.A.C.K. (Really Angry Teachers, Parents and Activists Coalition for Kids) of Manatee are co-sponsoring, and we expect other groups to formalize their participation soon. See http://www.trendigest.info/truth_in_testing.htm for more information.
 

The online portion of the Truth in Testing 2004 Conference is being set up at this link: http://www.shermandorn.com/fcar04/.

Registration
Follow the "Registration" steps at the link above to get information on payment options and directions.

Call for Papers

The focus of the conference is on our legislative campaign for parental access to graded FCAT materials, but we will also address the ills of FCAT more generally. Presenters at the face-to-face conference in Orlando are invited to post their materials to the online conference as well so that those who can't make it to Orlando can still participate in the discussion.

Registrants for the online conference are also invited to post informal position papers and statements on FCAT and related assessment issues. Don't let the academic trappings put you off -- no abstract is required, and footnotes and bibliographies are strictly optional. There is no minimum or maximum length or prescribed format.

Visit the link above and follow the "Submissions" option for additional information.

 

F-TREND is a project of  the Florida Coalition for Assessment Reform (www.fcar.info).

John L. Perry and Gloria Pipkin, editors

 

Links in this e-newsletter may change or expire on a daily or weekly basis. Some links may also require local website registration, which is generally free.

Have you seen an article, web site, book, or other resource you think should be recommended in F-TREND?

Send the URL to suggestions@...

Subscribe: F-TREND-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Unsubscribe: F-TREND-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
List owner: F-TREND-owner@yahoogroups.com

 

 

F-TREND
Florida Test Reform Email News Digest Your weekly source of news from the Florida Coalition for Assessment Reform (FCAR).  Visit us on the web at www.trendigest.info.

v. 1 no. 21 - December 21, 2003

This Week’s News
 

Student kept in 3rd grade because of school error
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/orl-asecthirdside14121403dec14,1,7288326.story
By Dave Weber
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
December 14, 2003
 

A child pays the price for bureaucratic mistakes. -- EDs

Nat Williams was upset last spring when he heard he had failed third grade and had to repeat the school year. "I was mad. I thought that I had passed because I studied as hard as I could," said Nat, a student at Astatula Elementary in Lake County. But now school officials say it was a big mistake.
 

 

Confusion makes kids guinea pigs
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/orl-asecthirdkids121403dec14,1,3872505.story
By Dave Weber
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
December 14, 2003
 

Jim Warford's pronouncement that children with low FCAT reading scores have an "academic illness" may be the most obnoxious statement we've encountered his year. -- EDs

Only three months away from the next round of state tests, it's anyone's guess how well Florida's public schools are doing at turning 28,000 poor readers into fourth-graders ready for academic success. Across the state, teachers are trying a hodgepodge of approaches to help the children repeating third grade this year because of failing reading scores on last winter's Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. To the ire of some parents, state officials admit they're still not certain what works. Some students appear finally to be learning, while others may stumble again on the FCAT and be kept in third grade for a third year.
 

Schools hope longer day means higher test scores
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-locextendday15121503dec15,0,2818168.story?coll=orl-home-headlines
By Denise-Marie Balona

Orlando Sentinel
December 15, 2003
 

The long-term effects of keeping children in institutional settings rather than with their families remain to be seen. -- EDs

 

Public schools across Florida are tacking extra time onto the day or year as a way to cram in more instruction and explore topics often overlooked in the scramble to prepare for the high-stakes Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. The Volusia County school district last week agreed to give five of its elementary schools about $75,000 to extend the six-hour school day by an hour for some classes next semester. About 20 teachers volunteered.

 

 

Leaders get lesson of their own: how to assess a 4-year-old
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/education/7500294.htm

By Matthew I. Pinzur
Miami Herald
December 16, 2003
 

If there's a way to shame and stigmatize schools, count on the Board of Education to find it sooner or later. -- EDs

In the complex and emotional world of testing, nothing baffles the experts like a 4-year-old. Their answer to a simple question may be loquacious on Monday, silent on Wednesday and somewhere in between on Friday. ''Four-year-olds are notoriously slippery,'' James Warford, Florida's K-12 education chancellor, said Monday at a national preschool conference here. As Florida begins implementing a statewide prekindergarten program, education leaders are grappling with ways to fairly judge the taxpayer-funded programs without unfairly judging the children they serve.
 

 

Palm Beach County may require standardized tests for first, second graders
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-ptesting16dec18,0,6106728.story?coll=sfla-news-palm
By Scott Travis
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
December 18, 2003
 

"The pressure level of kids in elementary school is something that people of my generation never saw until they took the college board exams as high school juniors." --Bill Fay, principal of Banyan Creek Elementary in Delray Beach

The testing frenzy could begin earlier for students in Palm Beach County's elementary schools. School district officials are reviewing whether to require first- and second-graders to take a standardized exam that measures some of the same reading and math skills as the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.
 

 

State funding, by the book
http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/news/121903/Local/ST002.shtml
Gina Pace
Pensacola News Journal

December 19, 2003
 

The state plays Scrooge in denying FCAT bonus money to a newly-merged school in Escambia County. The article is accompanied by a stunning photograph of a 10-year-old student at the school reading to his younger sister. Give yourself a treat and check out the photo. -- EDs

After Century Elementary School posted its second F on the state's report card, students and teachers had to deal with the disappointment of being labeled a chronically failing school. A year of hard work brought the grade up to a C this school year, and Principal Russell Queen believed the school was owed recognition and a grant of $100 per student promised by the state. But Century will not be getting the bonus money that typically accompanies an improvement of at least one letter grade on state standardized tests.
 

Commentary/Opinion

FCAT sets us back to the Stone Age
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artikkel?SearchID=73157070581615&Avis=SH&Dato=20031214&Kategori=OPINION&Lopenr=312140592&Ref=AR

By Craig Bachler
Sarasota Herald-Tribune

December 14, 2003

 

FCAR member Craig Bachler scores with another letter to the editor of the Sarasota Herald Tribune. -- EDs

As a parent of a third-grader, I am concerned about the possible negative effect that the flawed FCAT method of measuring will have with my child. It is no secret that most teachers and parents are aware that the FCAT is not the best way to encourage academic success. However, this test is accomplishing something: a lot of confusion as to why it is beneficial.
 

 

Use of test to determine graduation is unfair
http://gainesvillesun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artikkel?SearchID=73156660290084&Avis=GS&Dato=20031217&Kategori=EDITORIALS02&Lopenr=31216018&Ref=AR

By Joey Lovell
Gainesville Sun

December 17, 2003

An Alachua County senior excels in school but can't pass the FCAT. -- EDs

I am a senior at Hawthorne High School. I have failed the FCAT Reading and Math tests by 20 points on each portion. I have been busting my butt for 13 years to keep my grades up and get all my credits to graduate in May. But, instead, a test determines if I graduate or not, which I believe is wrong.
 

Fcar News

 

Truth in Testing

FCAR is hosting a drive-in conference and rally in Orlando on Saturday, February 14, 2004, at the Orlando Public Library. The focus of the conference is on our legislative campaign for parental access to graded FCAT materials, but we will also address the ills of FCAT more generally. Florida ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) and R.A.T.P.A.C.K. (Really Angry Teachers, Parents and Activists Coalition for Kids) of Manatee are co-sponsoring, and we expect other groups to formalize their participation soon. See http://www.trendigest.info/truth_in_testing.htm for more information.
 

On the Web
 

Participate in a survey on high stakes testing, designed by Florida teacher Joy Baldree for a graduate course in research.

http://share.baldree.com/survey/Lists/FCAT%20Testing/overview.htm

 

 

Not to be missed -- a brilliant, inspiring paper that goes far beyond its country of origin -- EDs

Some Criteria for Intelligent Accountability Applied to Accountability in New Zealand
by Terry Crooks, Educational Assessment Research Unit, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
http://www.fairtest.org/k12/AERA_Paper.html
 

F-TREND is a project of  the Florida Coalition for Assessment Reform (www.fcar.info).

John L. Perry and Gloria Pipkin, editors

 

Links in this e-newsletter may change or expire on a daily or weekly basis. Some links may also require local website registration, which is generally free.

Have you seen an article, web site, book, or other resource you think should be recommended in F-TREND?

Send the URL to suggestions@...

Subscribe: F-TREND-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
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F-TREND subscribers;

 

The following item in F-TREND contained a bad link.  The corrected version is below. 

 

Also, links to the statements by Pat Dunnigan and Diane Ferguson in the Commentary/Opinion section would not have worked until about 9:15 p.m. Monday.  If you tried the links before without success, please try again.  And please accept my apologies for any inconvenience these broken links might have caused you.

 

Contritely Yours,

 

John L. Perry

 

 

Fcar News

 

Truth in Testing

FCAR is hosting a drive-in conference and rally in Orlando on Saturday, February 14, 2004, at the Orlando Public Library. The focus of the conference is on our legislative campaign for parental access to graded FCAT materials, but we will also address the ills of FCAT more generally. Florida ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) and R.A.T.P.A.C.K. (Really Angry Teachers, Parents and Activists Coalition for Kids) of Manatee are co-sponsoring, and we expect other groups to formalize their participation soon. See http://www.trendigest.info/truth_in_testing.htm for more information.
 

 

F-TREND
Florida Test Reform Email News Digest Your weekly source of news from the Florida Coalition for Assessment Reform (FCAR)

v. 1 no. 20 - December 14, 2003                                                                    Visit us on the web at www.trendigest.info.

This Week’s News

Palm Beach County schools face possible wave of transfers
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/search/sfl-pchoice07dec07,1,2480325.story
By Scott Travis
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
December 7, 2003
 

The much-ballyhooed provision of NCLB that allows parents of children in underperforming schools to apply for transfers to schools with higher ratings has elicited little more than "ho-hum" from most parents in other states. -- EDs

 

School planners are bracing for what could be a massive shuffling of students next year, when as many as 60,000 children in low-income areas may get to transfer to schools in more affluent neighborhoods. It's a mind-boggling number, given that the district has only 160,000 students. Administrators say they plan to do what they can to encourage parents to stay put.
 

Schools offer programs in wake of latest FCAT failures

http://www1.naplesnews.com/npdn/news/article/0,2071,NPDN_14940_2485642,00.html

By Ray Parker

Naples Daily News
December 8, 2003
 

"It's not always about knowledge but how to take a test," [Lely High School assistant principal Karen] LaPorte said.

In October, Collier County seniors retook the reading section of the FCAT, many for the fourth time, but a majority failed again: 60 percent. At least 348 Collier seniors, and 19,000 statewide, still must pass either the reading or math portion to graduate this school year. Educators say there are two main reasons why students continue to have difficulty: Either the students don't take the test seriously or their primary language is not English.
 

 

School chief's bonuses linked to tests
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/12/09/Hillsborough/School_chief_s_bonuse.shtml
By Melanie Ave

St. Petersburg Times
December 9, 2003

The FCAT stakes just got higher for Hillsborough's school superintendent, who could earn as much as $37,000 in bonuses for higher test scores and school grades. -- EDs

The Hillsborough County School Board will vote on a new contract for superintendent Earl Lennard today that formally sets his retirement for 2006 and, until then, will give him bonuses based on student achievement. It will be the first time his salary will be tied to classroom results under an approach that's being pushed statewide.

 

 

Boycott of FCAT threatened
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/education/7449436.htm

By Steve Harrison

Miami Herald
December 9, 2003
 

Broward parents prefer Montessori methods over FCAT bribe money, causing school officials to "fear rebellion." See Commentary (below) for statements made by parents Pat Dunnigan and Dianne Ferguson at the meeting on December 9. -- EDs

Unhappy with the impact of high-stakes testing on their Montessori magnet curriculum, some parents at Fort Lauderdale's Virginia Shuman Young Elementary School are considering a drastic measure: They're thinking of keeping their kids home during this spring's Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.
 

Voucher schools mostly a blank slate
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/education/7446877.htmMiami%20Herald

By Matthew I. Pinzur

Miami Herald
December 9, 2003
 

A study by the Miami Herald reveals that students who use state vouchers to attend private schools have FCAT math scores that are considerably below those of their counterparts who remained in F-rated schools. -- EDs

State education officials know little about the effectiveness of their landmark school voucher program because they have done only one analysis of test scores in four years -- and it found mixed results. The study, released to The Herald on Monday, looked at test scores of students who used Opportunity Scholarships to leave low-performing schools last year and compared them to students who stayed at those failing schools.

 

 

Having teachers on same page key to good school performance, officials say
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/auto/epaper/editions/tuesday/local_news_f35d3530c227507e1081.html

By Kimberly Miller
Palm Beach Post
December 9, 2003
 

Palm Beach spends half a million dollars to train teachers in "single-school culture," a euphemism for Stepford teaching, in order to raise test scores. -- EDs

Consistency is the key to better performing schools, said district officials who touted a plan Monday that asks all teachers to use the same rules and lessons in the classroom. The plan, called "single-school culture," ensures that academically and with discipline issues, teachers are on a similar page. Without it, teachers in the same school can vary greatly on classroom rules, discipline and academic standards.

 

FCAT push buries some studies: Teachers finding too little time for history, geography

http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/news/121003/Local/ST005.shtml
Jenny LaCoste
Pensacola News Journal

December 10, 2003
 

From Pensacola teachers and students, evidence of how FCAT cannibalizes the curriculum -- EDs

More than once in the past few years, Navy Point Elementary teacher Michelle Baker has settled debates among students over who freed the slaves - Abraham Lincoln or Martin Luther King Jr. "These children need to learn about history," she said. "It's our world." When veteran teacher Bridget Barber notes subjects that are crucial to a child's education, social studies is among those that top her list. "It's extremely important. It's a springboard for everything we do," said Barber, a fifth-grade teacher at McArthur Elementary. "Without history and social studies, it would be so hard to get kids interested in the learning process." But in the days of high-stakes standardized testing, teachers have little time for subjects such as history, civics and geography. Educators say the unfortunate reality is: If it's not on the FCAT, it's not a priority.
 

Commentary/Opinion

Statement by parent Pat Dunnigan at the December 9th meeting at Virginia Shuman Young Elementary School in Fort Lauderdale, a Montessori charter school where parents are protesting FCAT. Dunnigan's statement is an F-TREND Exclusive, with the full text available at http://www.trendigest.info/docs/dunnigan.htm -- EDs

There are good reasons to worry that the FCAT threatens the core values of the Montessori curriculum, which de-emphasize conventional testing and which do not rely on written tests as the measure of educational achievement.

 

 

Statement by Dianne Ferguson, another parent at Virginia Shuman Young Elementary in Broward County who is protesting the influence of FCAT on the school's Montessori philosophy and methods. Her full statement is an F-TREND Exclusive available at http://www.trendigest.info/docs/ferguson.htm -- EDs

I am puzzled by the people I’ve spoken to in the last week who are shocked that parents at VSY [Virginia Shuman Young Elementary School] would even consider any action that could result in some kind of bump in the road for the FCAT.

 

 

The Texas mess

http://www.sptimes.com/2003/12/07/Opinion/The_Texas_mess.shtml
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times

December 7, 2003

The St. Pete Times makes connections between illusory academic gains in Texas and FCAT data "massaged" in Florida. -- EDs

Even if you believe in miracles, you probably don't expect to find them in public education, where the real success stories usually involve hard work and slow progress. Yet a lot of people bought into the "Texas miracle" - a tale in which old-fashioned classroom accountability and a back-to-basics curriculum produced supposedly dazzling academic gains, especially among that state's minority students.
 

 

FCAT sample test perplexing

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/opinion/7439489.htm
By Brenda Katz
Bradenton Herald
December 8, 2003

A father called to tell me his daughters found questionable questions on an FCAT 10th-grade reading sample test. I read it to find out what all the FCAT fuss was about.
 

 

Lawmakers to consider testing voucher students
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/auto/epaper/editions/monday/news_f33dee77c227f04f0075.html

By S.V. Date

Palm Beach Post
December 8, 2003

While we wouldn't wish the FCAT on our worst enemies, much less innocent children, regardless of where they attend school, the state applies a double standard when it forces test-based "accountability" on public schools but exempts students who go to private schools on public funds. -- EDs

How well are students who get publicly financed school vouchers doing? For four years, the answer has been: It's none of the public's business. The state does not require testing of students who receive vouchers from the McKay program for disabled children and the corporate tax credit program for poorer children. And even when such students' private schools do require tests, the scores remain with the parents and the schools.
 

Dumbing down

http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/news/121203/Opinion/ST003.shtml

Pensacola News Journal

By Terrence L. Brown
December 12, 2003

 

A Pensacola resident responds to "FCAT push buries some studies" [See News, above]-- EDs

In its obsession for higher student performance on the FCAT exams, the state of Florida is permitting schools to omit teaching social studies at the elementary and middle school levels.
 

Fcar News

 

Truth in Testing

FCAR is hosting a drive-in conference and rally in Orlando on Saturday, February 14, 2004, at the Orlando Public Library. The focus of the conference is on our legislative campaign for parental access to graded FCAT materials, but we will also address the ills of FCAT more generally. Florida ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) and R.A.T.P.A.C.K. (Really Angry Teachers, Parents and Activists Coalition for Kids) of Manatee are co-sponsoring, and we expect other groups to formalize their participation soon. See http://www.trendigest.info/truth_in_testing.htm for more information.
 

Quote of the Week
 

"That's all we hear about, FCAT, FCAT, FCAT, from almost the first day of school." -- William Brown, fifth grader at Navy Point Elementary School in Pensacola, quoted in the Pensacola News Journal, December 10, 2003
 

F-TREND is a project of  the Florida Coalition for Assessment Reform (www.fcar.info).

John L. Perry and Gloria Pipkin, editors

 

Links in this e-newsletter may change or expire on a daily or weekly basis. Some links may also require local website registration, which is generally free.

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Subscribers,

 

Please pardon my error in sending TREND to this list.  Here is the newsletter you were supposed to receive.

 

John Perry

F-TREND
Florida Test Reform Email News Digest Your weekly source of news from the Florida Coalition for Assessment Reform (FCAR)

v. 1 no. 19 - December 7, 2003                                                                      Visit us on the web at www.trendigest.info

This Week’s News

Students test FCAT teaching aid

http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Headlines/03NewsHEAD01120203.htm
Daytona Beach News-Journal
By Linda Trimble
December 2, 2004

High-tech test prep is still test prep -- with a higher price tag. -- EDs

Richard Maher clicked his way through the questions on his computer screen at Flagler Palm Coast High School, but the sophomore's knowledge of math wasn't the only thing being put to the test. The test itself was being judged.
 

 

University students may face 1 more test

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/education/orl-locgovs04120403dec04,1,1006140.story
By David Damron
Orlando Sentinel
December 4, 2003

Although the proposed test would not be an exit exam for students, 10% of funding for state universities could be tied to test scores. -- EDs

Florida higher-education leaders Wednesday moved closer to embracing the idea that passing final exams and earning a degree will not be proof enough of a good college education. University students should also show they learned basic skills on an exam, leaders said. But the exam would not hold students back.
 

Commentary/Opinion

Fill in the blanks

http://www.sptimes.com/2003/12/01/Opinion/Fill_in_the_blanks.shtml
St. Petersburg Times

Editorial
December 1, 2003

Once again the St. Pete Times supports parental access to FCAT materials, and chides the governor for his stubborn defense of FCAT secrecy. -- EDs

An appeals court has now determined that Florida parents don't have a right to see where their students are going wrong on standardized tests, but Gov. Jeb Bush shouldn't be so eager to gloat. His win comes at the expense of students who are being held back without really knowing why.
 

FCAT's failure: Process testing not living up to state's standards

http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/Opinion/Editorials/03OpOPN01120103.htm
Daytona Beach News-Journal
December 1, 2003

The News-Journal hits all the right notes in its objections to the high stakes attached to the FCAT. -- EDs

Results from the October FCAT tests show that 65 percent of the state's seniors -- 19,000 students -- who took the test failed to get the scores needed on the 10th grade reading section to qualify for a diploma. About 1,000 seniors from last year who retook the test failed again. Thousands more failed the mathematics section. Where is the outrage? How can the state continue to justify denying a high school diploma to a student on the basis of a single test -- even when students have passed college entrance exams and maintained B averages?
 

On the Web

 

 http://www.classroomstruggles.org/home.htm

A new web site, still under construction, by Bess Altwerger, who hosts a radio show billed as "The Voice for Democracy and Equity in Education." The current 60-minute program features an interview with Stephen Krashen, professor emeritus at USC and authority on literacy and second language acquisition.
 

Recommended Book

The power of Reading: Insights from The Research by Stephen Krashen

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1563080060/104-1157587-6323117?v=glance
 

Quote of the Week
 

"The governor portrayed his opposition to disclosing FCAT test materials as consistent with "the Department of Education's 20-year policy on test confidentiality," but that's a little disingenuous. Until four years ago, DOE never used a standardized test to grade and punish schools. Until last spring, it never used a state test of such complexity to decide whether high school seniors could graduate. Until this fall, it never used a state test to decide whether third-graders should be promoted or retained." -- St. Petersburg Times editorial, December 1, 2003
 

F-TREND is a project of  the Florida Coalition for Assessment Reform (www.fcar.info).

John L. Perry and Gloria Pipkin, editors

 

Links in this e-newsletter may change or expire on a daily or weekly basis. Some links may also require local website registration, which is generally free.

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TREND
Test Reform Email News Digest Your weekly source of news from the test reform front.

v. 1 no. 19 - December 7, 2003                                                                      Visit us on the web at www.trendigest.com.

This Week’s News

Susan Ohanian wins NCTE Orwell Award

Recognizing a web site for the first time, the National Council of Teachers of English bestowed its Orwell Award for clarity in public discourse to Susan Ohanian. Ohanian's One Size Fits Few: The Folly of Educational Standards, is a resistance classic. Visit the award-winning web site at http://www.susanohanian.org and read NCTE's press release at http://www.ncte.org/about/press/news/114934.htm.
 

 

Dean says states should turn down No Child Left Behind money

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/334/region/Dean_says_states_should_turn_d:.shtml
By Kate McCann

Associated Press
November 30, 2003

It's better to suffer the loss of Title 1 funds than to "allow your school systems to be run by the federal government,'' Howard Dean told the Associated Press. -- EDs

Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean on Sunday urged states to reject federal No Child Left Behind funding, and said he would if still governor of Vermont. ''It's going to cost them more in property taxes and other taxes than they are going to get out of it,'' Dean told The Associated Press following a campaign stop.
 

A parent activist in Massachusetts reports some favorable amendments to the MCAS appeals process in a post to the Assessment Reform Network email list for state coordinators. -- EDS

December 1, 2003

Massachusetts Gov. Romney signed the MCAS/SpEd Appeals bill on the day before Thanksgiving.

This will, among other things, eliminate the minimum score requirement for any high school student on an IEP or 504 plan as a prerequisite for filing an appeal of a failing MCAS score. Previously, anyone who did not score at least 216 was not eligible to file an appeal. Also, now parents have the right to invoke the appeals process. Before it was left up to the superintendent. The IEP team will play a more active role in substantiating the student's competency as well.

The DOE must now promulgate regulations consistent with the statute, so until that happens, these provisions are not yet in effect. We will keep you posted. It is an important step in the right direction of recognizing that "one size does not fit all." It will be important in the next few weeks to review the DOE proposed regs to assure their consistency with the legislation.

Ruth Kaplan, elected member of the Brookline (Mass.) School Committee, a V.P. of Coalition for Authentic Reform in Education, and co-chair of the Alliance for High Standards NOT High Stakes (KaplanRuth@...).
 

Severely Disabled Students Can Be Held to Different Standards, Officials Say

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGA8ZY71SND.html
By Ben Feller
The Associated Press
December 3, 2003

This announcement by the Department of Education, which signals the first major change in the NCLB, will eliminate one of the most frequent criticisms of the massive law. -- EDs

Students with the most severe learning disabilities can be held to standards designed just for them rather than those used for classmates, which could ease pressure on schools struggling to make yearly progress, Education Department officials said Wednesday.
 

Gains in Houston schools: How real are they?

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/03/national/03HOUS.html?hp

New York Times
By Diana Jean Schemo and Ford Fessenden
December 3, 2003

Another probe into the "Texas miracle" as exemplified by the Houston schools reveals more flab than muscle. See also letters to the editor in response, below, in Commentary/Opinion. -- EDs

As a student at Jefferson Davis High here, Rosa Arevelo seemed the "Texas miracle" in motion. After years of classroom drills, she passed the high school exam required for graduation on her first try. A program of college prep courses earned her the designation "Texas scholar." At the University of Houston, though, Ms. Arevelo discovered the distance between what Texas public schools called success and what she needed to know. Trained to write five-paragraph "persuasive essays" for the state exam, she was stumped by her first writing assignment. She failed the college entrance exam in math twice, even with a year of remedial algebra. At 19, she gave up and went to trade school.
 

Students must do the math

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/living/education/7410911.htm
Contra Costa [CA] Times
By Suzanne Pardington
December 4, 2003

With this article the Times features a poll on How important has algebra been to you? -- EDs

Angel Thompson is trying hard not to be among the first students in California to be denied a high school diploma for not learning algebra.
 

Md. to give class of '09 exit exams: 5 types of diplomas proposed; dropout rate concerns persist

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33345-2003Dec3.html
Washington Post
By Ylan Q. Mui
December 4, 2003

One board member who voted for the high school exit exam said she was "petrified" by the very real prospect of higher numbers of pushouts. -- EDs

Maryland will require students to pass standardized tests before they can receive high school diplomas, starting with the Class of 2009. State Board of Education members voted 9 to 2 yesterday to make Maryland's High School Assessments part of graduation requirements for students now in seventh grade and younger.
 

 

Tool measures children's progress: New South Carolina schools' evaluation process charts students skills, needs
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/7409044.htm

The State [SC]

By Gina Smith
December 4, 2003

Unlike some states that test young children excessively, the South Carolina process relies on teacher observations and work samples. -- EDs

Parents have a new way to determine — in detail — how their kindergartners and first graders are doing in school, S.C. educators say. It’s called the S.C. Readiness Assessment, a year-long evaluation of a student’s social skills and language and math abilities.
 

Angry students confront Romney: Underperforming label is resented

http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/mcas/articles/2003/12/04/angry_students_confront_romney/
Boston Globe
By Anand Vaishnav
December 4, 2003

Governor Mitt Romney received a stinging earful yesterday from high school students who were angry that their district was labeled underperforming, and who grilled him about the reasons for his visit.
 

 

Report cards on schools go to parents

http://www.newsobserver.com/front/story/3105490p-2815525c.html

News & Observer (Raleigh, NC)
By Todd Silberman
December 5, 2003

A 10-page report card? What's next -- a test for parents over the contents? -- EDs

Parents and others curious about North Carolina education can now get the most detailed information ever compiled on each of the state's 2,344 schools. Report cards on every school in the state are being released today, covering data from test scores and teacher qualifications to incidents of violence and Internet connections. The cards will be sent home beginning today by many schools and also are available on the Web at www.ncreportcards.org. The report cards, issued for the first time in 2002, have been expanded to include information about how schools stack up against the new federal standards of the No Child Left Behind law.
 

 

Wyden hears schools’ concerns: The senator is touring the state to survey views on the No Child Left Behind policy.

http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.cfm?i=71850
The Associated Press
By Julia Silverman
December 5, 2003

Oregon's senior U.S. Senator says there's no "political will" to abandon NCLB, but he's optimistic about the prospects for some constructive amendments. -- EDs

Sen. Ron Wyden said Thursday he hopes to “light a movement in the Senate” to illustrate both what was promised by No Child Left Behind, a sweeping new education reform law backed by the Bush administration, and what actually was delivered.
 

 

 
Concern over new federal rules governing special ed

http://www.post-gazette.com/localnews/20031205specialedlocal3p3.asp
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
By Eleanor Chute
December 5, 2003

New federal rules allow just 1% of children with significant cognitive disabilities to use alternative assessments, although most states have many more students than that who should qualify. -- EDs

New federal rules for testing special education students will go into effect next week, but they won't address one of the biggest complaints from school officials: testing the majority of special education students as other students at the same grade level.
 

 

Report shows S.C. students short of goals
http://www.charleston.net/stories/120503/sta_05oversight.shtml

Charleston, SC Post and Courier
By Seanna Adcox
December 5, 2003

South Carolina students must improve faster to meet state academic goals, according to a report released Thursday by the state's education reform agency.
 

Commentary/Opinion

 

School-reform critics ignore power of accountability
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2003-12-03-our-view_x.htm

USA Today

Editorial
December 3, 2003

See Alfie Kohn's response immediately following USA Today's editorial. -- EDs

In 1998, when Ronald Ross took over the schools in Mount Vernon, N.Y., only a third of the students were scoring at acceptable levels on state reading and math tests. Yet teachers claimed they were doing their best with the mostly poor, minority students. The one cudgel Ross could wield was the state's tough new accountability system, which dramatically raised standards for students and required each school to publish its test results. Using them, Ross rooted out educators who accepted failure and realigned the curriculum. Within a year, half the students met state standards. Last year, 80% achieved them.

 

 

Reform's 'hammer' fails

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2003-12-03-oppose_x.htm
USA Today
By Alfie Kohn
December 4, 2003

The law's many critics don't favor neglecting troubled schools. That poor and minority children long have received an inferior education is true — and disgraceful. But this cure is worse than the disease; it mostly punishes the victims.
 

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/06/opinion/L06HOUS.html?pagewanted=print&position=

Letters to the editor (5) in response to "Gains in Houston Schools: How Real Are They?" (front page, Dec. 3)
New York Times
December 6, 2003
 

The Heartbreak of NCLB

Federal Law Has Educators Frustrated: Possible Changes Unlikely to Quiet Critics

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/7383519.htm
Kansas City Star
By DeaAnn Smith and Mara Rose Williams
December 1, 2003

Testing of special ed students causing frustration: Performance of disabled on standard exams affecting ratings

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/2263226
Associated Press
By Julia Silverman
December 2, 2002

Are schools faring well? It depends

http://www.omaha.com/toolbox/story_printer.php?u_id=933696&u_brow=Internet+Explorer&u_ver=6#
Omaha World-Herald
By Paul Goodsell
December 2, 2003

Schools get ‘F’ in progress
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/localRegional.bg?articleid=303

Boston Herald
By Kevin Rothstein
December 5, 2003

More Chicago school teachers may fall short
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-teach05.html

By Rosalind Rossi
Chicago Sun-Times
December 5, 2003

School ratings raise concerns for Hispanics
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2003/12/05/school_ratings_raise_concerns_for_hispanics/

Boston Globe
By Anand Vaishnav
December 5, 2003

School Districts Fall Short: 99 Systems In State Put On Warning List, But Many Educators Question Federal Standards
http://www.ctnow.com/news/local/hc-districts1204.artdec04,1,1500620.story?coll=hc-headlines-local

Hartford [CT] Courant
By Robert A. Frahm
December 5, 2003
 

Recommended Book

Thanks to Susan Ohanian for leading us to Gary Stager's review of Frank Smith's new book from Heinemann, Unspeakable Acts, Unnatural Practices: Flaws and Fallacies in "Scientific" Reading Instruction.

http://www.districtadministration.com/page.cfm?id=589

On the Web

 

Oral arguments in the Chicago city schools case against George Schmidt and Substance, heard on December 1, 2003, in the seventh circuit court of appeals, can be downloaded at

 

http://www.ca7.uscourts.gov/farg/arg.fwx?caseno=03-1479&submit=showdkt&yr=03&num=1479
 

Quote of the Week

 

"I am the underperformer."

Sign carried by a student protester when Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney visited his school this week
 

TREND is a project of the Florida Coalition for Assessment Reform (www.fcar.info).

John L. Perry and Gloria Pipkin, editors

 

Links in this e-newsletter may change or expire on a daily or weekly basis. Some links may also require local website registration, which is generally free.

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Send the URL to suggestions@...

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F-TREND	Visit us on the web at www.trendigest.info!
Florida Test Reform Email News Digest Your weekly source of news from the Florida Coalition for Assessment Reform (FCAR)

v. 1 no. 18 - November 30, 2003

Note to Subscribers -

If you have time for just one item in this week's issue, jump to Marion Brady's brilliant new column. --EDs

This Week’s News

Science moves to head of class

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/education/7322447.htm

Miami Herald

By Mary Ellen Flannery
November 23, 2003
 

For students in grades 5, 8, and 10, the FCAT included science for the first time during the 2002-3 school year. See http://www.firn.edu/doe/sas/fcat/pdf/fcss05l1.pdf for science topics addressed in Sunshine State Standards. -- EDs

 

It may be more Louis Pasteur than Harry Potter, but Sanders' spell on her students should make them better prepared for one of the state's newest academic requirements. Starting in the 2006-07 school year, scores from the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test science section will be figured into school grades, the Florida Board of Education voted Tuesday.
 

'F' is for fortitude
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-asecjonesf24112403nov24,1,7260817.story

Orlando Sentinel
By Leslie Postal
November 24, 2003
 

A revealing portrait of Orange County's poorest high school, focusing on one determined student -- EDs

 

Her own F was bad enough, a failing mark in driver's education. Such a blemish had never marred one of her report cards. Karis Chandler cried over it, convinced it made the A's and B's in other courses look ugly. Then she stashed the card in her purse, confident she would shake off her first failure. She was less sure about her school, Jones High, which got its own F from the state last summer. The second in two years, the failing grade seemed to tar everything and everyone at the Orlando school.
 

 

1,227 seniors fail FCAT reading retake
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/auto/epaper/editions/tuesday/news_f32c7e5201f3e0ab0063.html

Palm Beach Post
By Kimberly Miller
November 25, 2003

Note that the percentage of students failing FCAT math retakes is not reported here or on the DOE web site. If the Post figure is accurate and 19,000 failed the reading test alone, the number of seniors in the class of 2004 who fail to earn a standard diploma could easily top last year's figure. -- EDs

Nearly 70 percent of Palm Beach County's high school seniors who still needed to pass the FCAT to graduate failed the reading portion of the retake exam in October -- despite what some say is a new watered down version of the original test. The seniors, totaling 1,227 in Palm Beach County, 263 on the Treasure Coast and 19,000 statewide, have two more chances to pass the reading test or face the possibility of not earning their high school diplomas. Both the reading and mathematics test must be passed to graduate.

 

Some fail FCAT but still score on grades
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-locgrades25112503nov25,1,1110764.story?coll=orl-news-headlines

Orlando Sentinel
By Mary Shanklin
November 25, 2003
 

"A quarter of the ninth- and 10th-graders who scored at the bottom level on FCAT were A or B students, according to data compiled by the state Department of Education in October."

 

Orlando resident Ashley Johnson had the high school grades to qualify for a Florida college scholarship, but instead of going on to college, she spends her days tending Universal Studio's Flying Unicorn ride. She was one of 11 Orange County seniors who had scholarship-worthy grades but who failed the state-required exit exam and could not get a high school diploma.
 

 

New school efficiency index draws plaudits and criticism
At question is the Return on Investment scale, which measures test scores vs. tax dollars spent.

http://www.sptimes.com/2003/11/28/Tampabay/New_school_efficiency.shtml

St. Petersburg Times

By Stephen Hegarty
November 28, 2003

 

Just when we thought the state of Florida had reached its nadir in shamed-based accountability, but we'll soon see a new cockamamie instrument -- the Return on Investment scale. -- EDs

 

For parents who wonder whether their child's public school is making good use of tax dollars, the state is about to provide a simple answer. But is it too simple? Early next year, the Florida Department of Education will publish, for the first time, a report that rates schools' efficiency, comparing test scores to the amount of money spent at the school. It's called the "Return on Investment" index, and it is either elegantly simple or maddeningly oversimplified.
 

Commentary/Opinion

Jeb fudging on his scores
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/auto/epaper/editions/monday/opinion_f30ccfac76fe60ed00cb.html
Palm Beach Post

Editorial
November 24, 2003

The Palm Beach Post lambastes Jeb Bush's education record in one of its strongest editorials against the high stakes of FCAT. -- EDs

Gov. Bush correctly says that results showing Florida's fourth-graders improved reading scores in the last school year come as good news. He also correctly gave some credit to the FCAT. The governor, however, did not put all this good news into the correct perspective. The improved scores were on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which because of federal mandates was given last year in each state. A sample of Florida students was measured in the fourth and eighth grades. While the governor singled out the fact that fourth-graders beat the national reading average by two points, he downplayed the fact that eighth-grade reading scores declined four points. Fourth-graders tied the national average in math. Eighth-graders scored below the national average in reading and math.
 

Don't blame state
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/letters/search/sfl-brmail780xnov25,1,388985.story

South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Letter to the editor by Doug Lashbrook
November 25, 2003
 

This one cries out for a response, "crybaby parents." Go to http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-letterseditor,0,4645389.customform -- EDs

FCAT math -- another waste of taxpayer money. Go ahead, give in to the "crybaby parents" whose kids are failing the requirements of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.

 

 

State board took wise step
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/editorial/search/sfl-editdlfcatnov25,0,4085590.story
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Editorial
November 25, 2003

The Sun-Sentinel recommends "giv[ing] educators time to assess the FCAT." Are there any educators who haven't already assessed the FCAT? --EDs

Score one for the Florida Board of Education. The board last week delayed making it harder for students to pass the FCAT's math and reading sections.
 

170 County seniors must pass: 70 percent fail again at reading on FCAT
http://gainesvillesun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031126/LOCAL/31125028

Gainesville Sun

By Douane D. James
November 26, 2003

We won't hold our breath waiting for Jeb to issue an ecstatic press release about scores on grade 10 FCAT retakes. -- EDs

Almost 70 percent of the Alachua County high school seniors who retook the reading section of FCAT graduation exam last month failed again. At least 170 Alachua County seniors, and 19,000 seniors statewide, still must pass either the reading or math version of the 10th-grade Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test to graduate with a standard diploma.
 

 

FCAT not answer

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/7360270.htm

Bradenton Herald
Letter to the editor by Craig R. Bachler
November 27, 2003
 

 

As the school year progresses, you are hearing much more about FCAT testing. Opinions are being formed in support and opposition to high-stakes testing (FCAT). However, many forming their opinion are not educated opinions and do not know the facts.
 

 

State fails on FCAT standards: Board should have stuck to schedule
http://www.news-press.com/news/opinion/031128fcat.html
News-Press [Ft. Myers]

Editorial
November 28, 2003

Should FCAT standards have been raised again this year or was the state board of education right to continue the current standards for at least a year? Join the discussion at a link from the editorial. --EDs

The state Board of Education blinked when it should have kept its eyes on the prize. Faced with a decision last week on whether to stick to its promised schedule for raising test standards for the state’s school children, a divided board voted to give the kids a break on reading and math — a pat on the head that could turn into a kick in the rear.
 

 

"Incompetent Standard" -- 11/29/03 letter to the editor of the Orlando Sentinel from Larry Fischer, in response to news article "Some Fail FCAT but still score on grades"
 

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/letters/orl-edple29112903nov29,1,2423803.story

 

Recommended Web Site
 

http://www.prospectcenter.org/what.html

PROSPECT ARCHIVES AND CENTER FOR EDUCATION AND RESEARCH is a wide-ranging network focusing on "descriptive group processes" for studying children's activities and works and using them to make informed decisions about instruction.
 

Recommended Book

 
Starting Strong: A Different Look at Children, Schools, and Standards
by Patricia F. Carini (Teachers College Press, 2001)

http://store.tcpress.com/0807741329.shtml
 

Quote of the Week
 

 "Gov. Bush has left education spending flat and introduced onerous punishments while producing what at best is a modest bump in reading ability. How much better could the state do if Gov. Bush cared more about how students score on legitimate measures than how he scores politically? "

Palm Beach Post editorial, November 24, 2003
 

F-TREND is a project of  the Florida Coalition for Assessment Reform (www.fcar.info).

John L. Perry and Gloria Pipkin, editors

 

Links in this e-newsletter may change or expire on a daily or weekly basis. Some links may also require local website registration, which is generally free.

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F-TREND
Florida Test Reform Email News Digest (www.trendigest.info) Your weekly source of news from the Florida Coalition for Assessment Reform (FCAR)

v. 1 no. 17 - November 23, 2003

This Week’s News
 

Broward third-graders will be promoted despite low FCAT math scores
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-cskl18nov18,0,6769013.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines

South Florida Sun-Sentinel
By Jamie Malernee
November 18, 2003

 

A poll at the Sun-Sentinel web site (http://www.sun-sentinel.com/) indicated that by more than a 2-to-1 majority respondents believe that third graders who fail the math portion of the FCAT should be retained. -- EDs

Broward third-graders who fail the math portion of a state standardized test will be allowed to move on to the next grade after all. The School Board voted Monday to repeal a requirement that would have automatically held back all third-graders who flunk the math section of the FCAT this year. That requirement would have set the district's promotion criteria higher than the state's, which retain third-graders only if they fail the reading section.
 

 

State decides not to raise FCAT bar to higher standards

http://www.sptimes.com/2003/11/19/State/State_decides_not_to_.shtml

St. Petersburg Times

By Stephen Hegarty
November 19, 2003

Even though FCAT scales won't be adjusted upward for the upcoming election year, scores of students with disabilities and those with limited English proficiency will be included in school grades for the first time. -- EDs

Florida students will face higher testing standards at some point, but not this school year. A divided Florida Board of Education decided Tuesday to leave the standards where they are for now, despite a state rule that calls for adjustments this year. The lone dissenting vote was board member Charles Garcia, who called Tuesday's vote "the low point of my tenure on the board." "Now is the time to raise the standards," Garcia said, likening low-performing schools and students to sick patients. "If you have a sick patient," he said, "it's imperative that we bring the treatment to them."
 

 

Boynton school experiments with strategy for helping students who filed FCAT

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/search/sfl-plevel20nov20,0,2111306.story
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
By Lois K. Solomon
November 20, 2003
 

Palm Beach school resorts to grouping students with low test scores in the same class under the illusion that all children with similar scores "read on the same level." -- EDs

In Room 10-103 at Forest Park Elementary School, seven of 18 students are repeating second grade. The principal could have scattered the repeaters among the school's five second-grade classes. But he is trying an experiment he hopes will improve his students' reading skills as well as the school's D grade from the state. Principal Bill Thompson calls his idea "leveling." Students with similar scores on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test and other standardized exams are together in the same classes this year. In teacher Stacy Greenberg's class, most students are poor readers and speak English as a second language.
 

9 'A' schools use cash for bonuses
http://www.floridatoday.com/!NEWSROOM/localstoryN1123AMONEY.htm

Florida Today
By Linda Jump

November 22, 2003
 

A novel idea for so-called school recognition money: Children at Sebastian River Middle School in Indian River County receive a credit for up to $7 to purchase a book at the school's book fair. -- EDs

Indian River County's "A" schools will use their combined $663,939 in state-recognition money for staff bonuses, educational equipment and, in rare cases, for tutors and other temporary staff to improve student performance.

 

Commentary/Opinion

Keep close eye on creation of Universal Pre-K program

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/editorial/letters/7280361.htm

Miami Herald

By Susan Walsh

November 17, 2003
 

Early childhood specialist fears universal pre-K will go the way of FCAT and the result will be measurement that is "inappropriate for young children." -- EDs

With all due respect to David Lawrence, I take issue with his optimistic view of the future of Universal Pre-K in Florida (The key to pre-K in Florida, Nov. 12 Other Views). With the program under the auspices of the state Department of Education, we can be assured of only one thing: The standards set for ''readiness'' and the measurement of achievement will be inappropriate for young children. One has only to look at what has happened in our kindergartens, where toys have disappeared, and reading programs have taken center stage.
 

What the school scores really tell

http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/columnists/cheryl_truman/7296998.htm

Lexington [KY] Herald-Leader
By Cheryl Truman
November 19, 2003
 

Occasionally a great piece of writing, commentary, or analysis from another state warrants inclusion in F-TREND, and this Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader column certainly qualifies. -- EDs

Seeing the voluminous information generated by the "No Child Left Behind" scores left me with an unaccustomed feeling: that I had way too much information about Kentucky's schools. Unfortunately, the wealth of information provided little insight about what I, as a parent and taxpayer, am supposed to do to make schools better. As best I can figure, NCLB is useful primarily as a tool for "Chicken Little" parents: It gives them the means to panic and flee, but doesn't tell how to stop the sky from falling.
 

 

FCAT absorbs all
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/7295994.htm

Bradenton Herald

Letter to the editor by Suki Westra Janisch
November 19, 2003

 

The letter writer, Suki Westra Janisch, is a member of R.A.T.P.A.C.K. -- Really Angry Teachers, Parents and Advocates Coalition for Kids, in Manatee County. [Scroll down the page at the Herald web site to read the full text of the letter.] -- EDs

This is the time of year in which we celebrate American Education Week, but ask any elementary schoolteacher and chances are that they are not celebrating. What used to be a profession entered into with dreams of inspiration for the gift of learning is now a job - a job where, on a week that should be spent creating a passion for their subject, teachers are giving, grading and analyzing mock FCAT tests.
 

 

A testing timeout
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/11/20/Opinion/A_testing_timeout.shtml

St. Petersburg Times
Editorial
November 20, 2003

One of the state's most respected newspapers takes a strong stand against punitive high stakes testing. -- EDs

Political calculations no doubt motivated the state Board of Education to back off higher test standards next year, an election year, but the decision is still encouraging. Five years into a reform plan that flunks schools and students based on their performance on one standardized test, the people in charge were willing Tuesday to temper their machismo with a dose of practical reality.

 

Why FCAT secrecy? Parents should be able to review tests
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/opinion/7314196.htm

Bradenton Herald

Editorial

November 21, 2003
 

Another strong editorial against the recent appeals court decision that keeps the FCAT shrouded in secrecy, despite its life-altering consequences -- EDs

Results of the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test can keep a third-grader from advancing to fourth and a senior from receiving a diploma. But the test is not an "official" school record and thus parents cannot see the text questions to help them understand their failing child's weak areas.

Or perhaps to detect errors in the test.
 

Recommended Web Site
 

http://www.classroomstruggles.org/home.htm
 
A new web site, still under construction, by Bess Altwerger, who hosts a radio show billed as "The Voice for Democracy and Equity in Education." Interviews with Susan Ohanian and Gerald Bracey are featured.
 

Recommended Book

 
Against School Reform (and in Praise of Great Teaching)

By Peter S. Temes

"In Against School Reform Mr. Temes...sets out a straightforward prescription for our schools which centers on the life of the individual teacher and rejects the billion-dollar school reform industry."

http://www.ivanrdee.com/fall_fl_Temes_Against.html

 

Quote of the Week
 

"One reason [education commissioner Jim] Horne and [Jeb] Bush still encounter so much resistance to their testing approach is that they typically dismiss critics, including dedicated educators, as though they were political enemies and apologists for the status quo. They too often treat disillusioned parents and students as though they were whiners." -- St. Petersburg Times editorial, November 20, 2003
 

F-TREND is a project of  the Florida Coalition for Assessment Reform (www.fcar.info).

John L. Perry and Gloria Pipkin, editors

 

Links in this e-newsletter may change or expire on a daily or weekly basis. Some links may also require local website registration, which is generally free.

Have you seen an article, web site, book, or other resource you think should be recommended in F-TREND?

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Subscribers,

 

In the editor’s note below, one of the links did not work correctly.  To access the Florida DOE’s letter to Judy Castillo, use the link below as I have corrected it.  Sorry for any inconvenience this might have caused anyone.

 

John Perry

 

 

Answers to FCAT questions elusive

http://www.sptimes.com/2003/11/15/Citrus/Answers_to_FCAT_quest.shtml

St. Petersburg Times

By Barbara Behrendt
November 15, 2003
 

The Florida DOE picked the wrong person to try to bully. Judy Castillo, a tireless advocate for her autistic son, isn't easily intimidated. (To view the DOE's response to Judy's request to see her son's FCAT, go to http://www.trendigest.info/docs/doe_letter.pdf.)

 

As another TREND Exclusive, we're featuring "Nightwise the Hedgehog," an original story by 9-year-old Jordan Castillo, transcribed by his mother, who made no changes in sentence structure or vocabulary. "These are his original works," Judy Castillo wrote. When one of your co-editors responded enthusiastically to Jordan's story, he said, "Finally, someone far out there who respects my work." Read Jordan's story at http://www.trendigest.info/docs/nightwise_the_hedgehog.htm and judge for yourself if FCAT is a fair measure of his talents and abilities. -- EDs

When Judy Castillo sat with her son Jordan's teacher Friday morning to establish his immediate academic priorities, she knew she didn't have all the information she needed. She also knew she wouldn't be getting it any time soon. Castillo, a Lecanto High School teacher, learned Thursday that state officials were not going to release Jordan's Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test results easily. Castillo and her husband, Joseph, of Brooksville, filed a lawsuit last month seeking the boy's results on the FCAT.

 

F-TREND	Visit us on the web at www.trendigest.info.
Florida Test Reform Email News Digest Your weekly source of news from the Florida Coalition for Assessment Reform (FCAR)

v. 1 no. 16 - November 16, 2003

This Week’s News
 

Free the FCAT!

http://www.trendigest.info/free_the_fcat.htm

Do-it-yourself legal kit now online for parents denied access to their children's FCAT graded answer sheet and test booklet.

·  Parent Request Letter to Education Commissioner

    Want to request access to your child's FCAT booklet and answer sheet?  Use this sample letter as a guide.

    Send a certified letter with return receipt requested, and keep copies of EVERYTHING. 

·  Filing Notes

·  Summons Example

·  Complaint Example

 

 

Answers to FCAT questions elusive

http://www.sptimes.com/2003/11/15/Citrus/Answers_to_FCAT_quest.shtml

St. Petersburg Times

By Barbara Behrendt
November 15, 2003

The DOE picked the wrong person to try to bully. Judy Castillo, a tireless advocate for her autistic son, isn't easily intimidated. To view the DOE's response to Judy's request to see her son's FCAT, go to http://www.trendigest.info/docs/doe_letter.pdf. 

 

As another TREND Exclusive, we're featuring "Nightwise the Hedgehog," an original story by 9-year-old Jordan Castillo, transcribed by his mother, who made no changes in sentence structure or vocabulary. "These are his original works," Judy Castillo wrote. When one of your co-editors responded enthusiastically to Jordan's story, he said, "Finally, someone far out there who respects my work." Read Jordan's story at http://www.trendigest.info/docs/nightwise_the_hedgehog.htm and judge for yourself if FCAT is a fair measure of his talents and abilities. -- EDs

When Judy Castillo sat with her son Jordan's teacher Friday morning to establish his immediate academic priorities, she knew she didn't have all the information she needed. She also knew she wouldn't be getting it any time soon. Castillo, a Lecanto High School teacher, learned Thursday that state officials were not going to release Jordan's Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test results easily. Castillo and her husband, Joseph, of Brooksville, filed a lawsuit last month seeking the boy's results on the FCAT.

 

 

Schools' grades could drop: A proposal to add FCAT scores from two at-risk student groups could also cost schools bonus money.
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031109/NEWS/311090563/1060

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

By Christina Denardo

November 9, 2003
 

Including scores of students with disabilities in calculating school grades could be a political disaster as hundreds of schools' grades drop drastically in an election year. 'Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished. -- EDs

Dozens of Florida schools' grades could drop next year under the education commissioner's proposal to include the scores of special education and limited-English students. Schools with a high number of such students, who typically don't fare well on the test, are especially concerned about losing state bonus money that's tied to their grades. For years, the state excluded the students' scores on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.
 

 

Educators deliberate FCAT loophole
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/11/10/State/Educators_deliberate_.shtml

St. Petersburg Times

By Jeffrey S. Solochek
November 10, 2003

Too bad the reporter omitted the mother's "unkind words about FCAT and the pressures it creates on students." That's the real story. -- EDs

Terri Clark sped to the local YMCA to find her daughter, Samantha, as soon as she learned the news. Nine weeks into the school year - after much test-taking and extra schoolwork - the second-time third-grader had convinced administrators at Pine Grove Elementary School that she could now read like a fourth-grader. "She came into the Y and shouted, "You went to fourth (grade)!' " 9-year-old Samantha recalled, a huge smile crossing her face. "I was happy and excited."
 

 

Essays eliminated from 10th-grade FCAT retakes
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-pcfcat100nov10,0,3574884.story?coll=sfla-news-palm

South Florida Sun-Sentinel
By Bill Hirschman
November 10, 2003
 

Contrary to what the Sun-Sentinel reporter writes, DOE says that scores on Grade 10 FCAT retakes will be in the districts on November 21. -- EDs

Tenth-graders who failed the essay-writing or prove-your-math portions of the FCAT won't have to worry about those sections when they retake the state standardized exam. A new state policy eliminates the long-answer sections of the reading and math FCAT in all future retakes. In their place are all multiple-choice questions for reading and more fill-in-the-grid questions for math.
 

 

NAEP may be used as truth serum

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2003-11-10-neap-usat_x.htm

USA Today
By Greg Toppo

November 10, 2003

 

As Bob Schaeffer notes, new attention to National Assessment of Educational Progress will likely corrupt the once-benign test and give another huge boost to the test prep industry. "It's not a good test unless it hurts" seems to be the prevailing philosophy. -- EDs

For the first time, educators and parents nationwide on Thursday will be able to compare the math and reading skills of a large sample of public school students as never before, a moment that could prove embarrassing to some states and good news for others.

 

 

Most FCAT money goes for bonuses: Most schools getting money will spend the bulk on faculty and staff

http://www.sptimes.com/2003/11/14/Pasco/Most_FCAT_money_goes_.shtml

St. Petersburg Times

By Rebecca Catalanello
November 14, 2003
 

An interesting analysis of how Pasco schools spent their so-called school recognition money, accompanied by a chart that breaks down each school's allocation into percentages spent on staff bonuses, equipment, and temporary personnel -- EDs

 

They met. They voted. Most decided faculty and staff bonuses would be the best way to spend their school recognition money. Now, they're trying to move on. Of the 35 Pasco County schools that received money for improving student grades on the FCAT last year, 20 decided to spend more than 70 percent on faculty and staff bonuses - more than in previous years.

 

 

4th-graders' reading scores jump
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/education/orl-asecread14111403nov14,1,4178339.story

Orlando Sentinel
By Dave Weber and Leslie Postal
November 14, 2003
 

Another entry in the alphabet soup of testing -- the NAEP -- shows Florida fourth graders up and eighth graders down in reading. Can NAEP test prep be far behind? -- EDs

 

Emphasis on reading in Florida elementary schools appears to be paying off, results of a nationwide test released Thursday show. In just one year, the number of Florida's fourth-graders who are proficient readers jumped from 27 percent to 32 percent, according to the "Nation's Report Card," an analysis of how students are doing nationwide.

 

 

Top-scoring schools proud of their students' performance on FCAT
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/search/sfl-bc14topschoolsnov14,0,4694908.story

South Florida Sun-Sentinel
By Scott Travis
November 14, 2003
 

After so-called "A" schools increased by 600% this year, a Sun-Sentinel reporter does further ranking and sorting by looking at the number grades each A-rated Palm Beach school earned. To their credit, some high-scoring schools resist the urge to gloat. -- EDs

Schools in the south and the west have a lot to brag about. When it comes to elementary student performance on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test or FCAT, schools in Wellington and areas west of Delray Beach and Boca Raton came out on top in 2003.

 

Commentary/Opinion

FCAT confidential: Contents shouldn't be top secret

http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/democrat/news/opinion/7229578.htm

Tallahassee Democrat

Editorial
November 11, 2003
 

The Tallahassee Democrat, a consistent supporter of FCAT openness, takes issue with the appeals court decision to deny parents' access. -- EDs

The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test is as powerful as it is controversial, the results determining not only the academic fate of individual students but also the grade given to public schools they attend. Despite the FCAT's influence on so many Floridians, however, its contents have remained - as far as parents are concerned - classified.
 

Better than the FCAT? It's worth it to find out
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/auto/epaper/editions/monday/opinion_f3ea773a3768f19d007f.html
Palm Beach Post

Editorial
November 10, 2003

We don't agree that computerized testing will be any better than the FCAT, but the Palm Beach editorial board does a good job of cataloguing many of the ills of FCAT. -- EDs

The FCAT alternative that Palm Beach County wants to try has one huge advantage: Because it tests more often, it makes much more sense academically than the high-stakes FCAT. There's also a huge unknown: Can the alternative FCAT be made to work?
 

 

New policy is a sham
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/editorial/search/sfl-edittdfcatsnov13,0,3392307.story
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Editorial

November 13, 2003
 

How can the Sun-Sentinel editorial board make such sweeping judgments about the difficulty level of a secret test that citizens aren't allowed to see? -- EDs

If students perform poorly on a standardized test to determine whether they have learned enough to graduate from high school, the best response is to:
(a) punish the students;
(b) reward the teachers;
(c) make the test easier, then test them again;
(d) help the students do better next time.
If you answered (c), you may want to apply for a job with the Florida Department of Education, for that is exactly the policy the department has come up with. For 10th-graders who fail the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test and have to retake the exam, the new policy eliminates the essay-writing and prove-your-math portions, replacing them with multiple-choice and fill-in-the-grid questions.

 

 

'Not official' FCAT too faulty
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2003311150580

Sarasota Herald Tribune

By Brenda Katz
November 15, 2003

 

Parent activist Brenda Katz of Manatee County makes an excellent case for parental access to FCAT materials. -- EDs

This letter is "not official." Therefore, maybe I should send it to the Florida Department of Education's section known as "Not Official Tests Are Us."
 

Recommended Book

In the young adult novel Blue Avenger and the Theory of Everything, Norma Howe spoofs reading incentive programs like Accelerated Reader, used in thousands of schools across the country to test children on independent reading.

 

Recommended Reading

 

The cover story of the November 2003 issue of the American School Board Journal focuses on the controversy surrounding early academics for pre-schoolers, a trend spawned by the testing-and-accountability craze.

http://www.asbj.com/current/coverstory.html

 

Double Quote
 

"The Department of Education will file a Motion to Dismiss and request attorney's fees and costs pursuant to Section 57.105, Florida Statutes (2002) on February 18, 2003 or at another time by mutual agreement, unless you dismiss your Complaint beforehand."

-- Nathan A. Adams, Deputy General Counsel, Florida DOE, in letter to Judy Castillo, who filed a complaint in circuit court after the DOE refused to respond to her requests for access to her autistic son's FCAT answer sheets and test booklet. (To see the DOE's letter to Judy Castillo, go to http://www.trendigest.info/docs/doe_letter.pdf.)
 

"I don't know what the legal term is for blackmail. I think a threat like that shows what this is really all about: political bullying."

-- Judy Castillo, quoted by Barbara Behrendt in St. Petersburg Times, November 15, 2003
 

F-TREND is a project of  the Florida Coalition for Assessment Reform (www.fcar.info).

John L. Perry and Gloria Pipkin, editors

 

Links in this e-newsletter may change or expire on a daily or weekly basis. Some links may also require local website registration, which is generally free.

Have you seen an article, web site, book, or other resource you think should be recommended in F-TREND?

Send the URL to suggestions@...

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F-TREND	Visit us on the web at www.trendigest.info.
Florida Test Reform Email News Digest Your weekly source of news from the Florida Coalition for Assessment Reform (FCAR)

v. 1 no. 15 - November 9, 2003

This Week’s News
 

Free the FCAT!

http://www.trendigest.info/free_the_fcat.htm

Do-it-yourself legal kit now online for parents denied access to their children's FCAT graded answer sheet and test booklet.

·  Parent Request Letter to Education Commissioner

    Want to request access to your child's FCAT booklet and answer sheet?  Use this sample letter as a guide.

    Send a certified letter with return receipt requested, and keep copies of EVERYTHING. 

·  Filing Notes

·  Summons Example

·  Complaint Example

 

 

Collier schools split $2.5 million in state bonuses

http://www.naplesnews.com/npdn/news/article/0,2071,NPDN_14940_2395568,00.html

Naples Daily News

By Ray Parker
November 2, 2003
 

In addition to documenting some of the usual squabbling over so-called school recognition monies, this article includes amounts received by Collier schools. -- EDs

When Principal Irma Miller asked her staff the best way to spend an extra $75,000, she received only one reply and that teacher was in favor of staff bonuses. "I assumed, therefore, that we had a consensus to spend the money, as it was spend (sic) in 1998," Miller wrote in a memo to her Lake Trafford Elementary staff. 1998 was the last time Lake Trafford earned bonus money, and when it was divvied up bonuses also went to teachers who worked at the school in 1998 but did not return the next year. But when the bonus money was divvied up this year, former teachers were not included.

 

 

Palm Beach County considering using computer program to grade FCAT essays
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-pfcat03nov03,0,3369193.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines

South Florida Sun-Sentinel
By Marc Freeman
November 3, 2003
 

Fair Test education director and FCAR member Bob Schaeffer nails it when he says that computerized grading of FCAT essays would be a "new nightmare." -- EDs

Artificial intelligence may be coming soon to Palm Beach County classrooms -- computers, not people, would read, score and analyze student essays on standardized tests for the first time in Florida. Grades are promised to appear within seconds, rather than the months it now takes to get similar writing results from the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. It sounds futuristic, but the School District wants to try out the technology starting early next year in grades three through 10 at selected schools. Reading and math tests adhering to state standards also would be given.
 

 

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel's "Next Generation" section this week focused on the FCAT, in a feature titled "FCAT Needs Grooming." Students from area high schools (and one college student) expressed their own views in a series of commentaries. -- EDs

 

Exam prep seems endless
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/custom/nextgeneration/sfl-phs07requirenov07,0,2739236.story

South Florida Sun-Sentinel
By Arielle Carpenter
Spanish River High
November 7, 2003

Testing can be a useful tool
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/custom/nextgeneration/sfl-phs07standardsnov07,0,2485145.story
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
By Lana Seligsohn
Spanish River High
November 7, 2003
 

Time, money spent on FCATs doesn't add up
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/custom/nextgeneration/sfl-phs07fcatmoneynov07,0,3276180.story
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
By Michele Boyet
Santaluces High
November 7, 2003

 

Fewer schools in county fumble FCAT
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/custom/nextgeneration/sfl-phs07fcatfailnov07,0,3908508.story
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
By Jeremy Makover
Boca Raton High
November 7, 2003

 

The College View: Schools not up to the test
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/custom/nextgeneration/sfl-phs07cv-fcatnov07,0,739738.story
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
By Rebecca Erenrich
Wesleyan University / Suncoast Community High graduate
November 7, 2003
 

 

Jacksonville students get excited about FCAT scores because bribe money pays for a trip to a theme park. What is wrong with this picture? -- EDs

FCAT fight gets school's grade changed
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=10464
First Coast News -- WJXX and WTLV in Jacksonville
Edited by  Cathleen O'Toole, Reporter

November 7, 2003

"We're not in education for the money,” says math teacher Barbara Burton. “But any time you get an extra incentive, that really makes you feel good."

 

 

Court rules father can't see son's FCAT

http://www.sptimes.com/2003/11/07/State/Court_rules_father_ca.shtml

St. Petersburg Times

By Stephen Hegarty
November 7, 2003

In the opinion, Judge Paul Hawkes wrote that "...if the trial court found the statutory language ambiguous, it was required to give deference to DOE's interpretation of the statute, because DOE is the agency charged with enforcing the School Code." For a sense of just how outrageous this pronouncement is, substitute "police department" for DOE. Contact fcar@... for a copy of the ruling. -- EDs

A Pinellas County father who sued to gain access to his son's FCAT booklets and answer sheets has no right to see those records, an appeals court ruled Thursday. The court case, which was intended to lift the veil on the state's all-important Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, likely is headed to the state's highest court.

 

Commentary/Opinion
 

An open letter to federal and state legislators

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/gmd4285/petition.html

Orlando Sentinel

By Marion Brady
November 6, 2003

After you've read FCAR Director Marion Brady's open letter to lawmakers, you can sign on to it at http://www.PetitionOnline.com/gmd4285/petition.html.  The full text of the letter is also on our website, http://www.trendigest.info, with permission of the author. -- EDS


An Open Letter to Federal and State Legislators:

Over the last decade, for all practical purposes, you've taken over American education. Convinced, as you apparently are, that education professionals lack standards, and don't want to be held accountable, this is understandable. In your new role, there are several things you should keep in mind.

 

 

FCAT testing cycle has puzzling aspects

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2003311020527

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Letter to the Editor by Gary Reinhardt

November 2, 2003

 

A succinct, astute letter to the editor from a savvy Sarasota citizen -- EDs

 

Recommended Sites

The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates
http://www.copaa.net/

An independent, nonprofit, tax-exempt organization of attorneys, advocates and parents established to improve the quality and quantity of legal assistance for parents of children with disabilities.

 

Recommended Reading

 

"Leaving Children Behind: How No Child Left Behind Will Fail Our Children," by Monty Neill of FairTest, is in the November 2003 issue of Phi Delta Kappan.

http://www.fairtest.org/nattest/Kappan.pdf

 

Quotes of the Week
 

"It's just like when there's a death in the family," said Jimmy Maddux, the executive director of curriculum and instruction for Bay District Schools. "Everyone wants a piece of the inheritance." [on distribution of so-called "school recognition" funds]
 

quoted by staff writer Brady Calhoun in Panama City News Herald,
November 2, 2003

 

 

"We'll do anything we can to get this to the [Florida] Supreme Court. I think it's unfortunate that the court believes the student records laws exist to protect the government from the people, not to protect the people from the government."

 

 --Mark Herdman, Palm Harbor attorney, in response to appeals court ruling denying parents access to FCAT materials

Quoted by Steve Hegarty in St. Petersburg Times, 11/7/03

 

F-TREND is a project of  the Florida Coalition for Assessment Reform (www.fcar.info).

John L. Perry and Gloria Pipkin, editors

 

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F-TREND	Visit us on the web at www.trendigest.info
Florida Test Reform Email News Digest Your weekly source of news from the Florida Coalition for Assessment Reform (FCAR)

v. 1 no. 14 - November 2, 2003

This Week’s News
 

Free the FCAT!

http://www.trendigest.info/free_the_fcat.htm

Do-it-yourself legal kit now online for parents denied access to their children's FCAT graded answer sheet and test booklet.

·  Parent Request Letter to Education Commissioner

    Want to request access to your child's FCAT booklet and answer sheet?  Use this sample letter as a guide.

    Send a certified letter with return receipt requested, and keep copies of EVERYTHING. 

·  Filing Notes

·  Summons Example

·  Complaint Example

 

 

Trial FCAT alternative to be tested in some Palm Beach County schools
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-pboardbox28oct28,0,7861170.story?coll=sfla-news-palm

South Florida Sun-Sentinel
By Marc Freeman
October 28, 2003
 

Don't let the headline in this news story get your hopes up. Even if the state could be persuaded to abandon the FCAT (and pigs could fly), the high stakes would remain. -- EDs

A trial program that could eventually spell the end of the FCAT could be introduced in select Palm Beach County classrooms as early as January, Superintendent Art Johnson said Monday. The school district is working with a standardized-testing company to create the first Internet-based alternative to the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, which has been under attack since it started. The FCAT was first given in 1998, and during the years additional subjects and grades have been included.
 

 

Students may take trial test in addition to FCAT
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/auto/epaper/editions/today/news_f3d9bf8cd0b0700000b6.html
Palm Beach Post
By Kimberly Miller and Mary Ellen Flannery
October 28, 2003
 

Here's another story on Palm Beach's efforts to pilot an alternative to FCAT. -- EDs

Palm Beach County students could face a double dose of testing next semester as school administrators search for an FCAT substitute. Superintendent Art Johnson said Monday the district is negotiating with a private testing firm that offers online testing with instant results -- unlike the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, which takes months to grade and isn't given until February and March.
 

 

Black activists blast effects of FCAT
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-locnaacp31103103oct31,0,1367185.story

Orlando Sentinel
By Denise-Marie Balona
October 31, 2003

 

The 50th anniversary next spring of Brown v. Board of Education is an appropriate occasion for large-scale FCAT protests. -- EDs

Minority-student advocates, gathered here for a state convention of the NAACP, spoke out Thursday against the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test and talk by some legislators to try to eliminate new class-size limitations, saying both could cause more black children to drop out of school.
 

 

FCAT proposal includes all pupils

http://southtampa.tbo.com/southtampa/MGA7VZYVGMD.html

Tampa Tribune

By Ellen Gedalius
November 1, 2003

The State Board of Education will vote later this month on whether to include ESE scores in calculating school grades under the so-called A+ plan. -- EDs

A proposal by the state education commissioner to include the scores of exceptional education students in computing school grades has some South Tampa administrators and parents worried.
The state for years has excluded FCAT scores of exceptional education students when computing school grades, boosting their overall standing. With ESE scores factored in, many or all of those schools could fall a letter grade or more, even robbing some of a prized A.
 

 

Skeeter's challenge
http://www.staugustine.com/stories/110103/new_1891836.shtml

St. Augustine Record

By Lisa Miller
November 1, 2003
 

"We don't want to focus on state letter grades," said Skeeter Key, in his first year as principal of a St. Johns elementary school stigmatized by the state with a D rating. Key goes on to say that "Testing needs to be used to find out an individual child's needs and basing curriculum on that, not for bashing schools and for money." Let's hope that Key maintains his admirable philosophy even if the school's state-assigned grade improves. -- EDs

 

Commentary/Opinion
 

Some critical, creative thinking about the FCAT

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/features/printedition/search/sfl-ralph28oct28,1,897201.story

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

By Ralph De La Cruz
October 28, 2003
 

Don't miss Alfie Kohn's answering machine message.... EDs

"Hello, you've reached the office of Alfie Kohn, where in an effort to raise standards we're asking people to take an analogy test," the answering machine begins. "Ready? Here we go.
"Standardized testing is to learning what ...
"Rain is to parade ...
"Monkey wrench is to gear ...
"Cellulite is to thigh ...
"Pigeon dropping is to window ... "
I knew right then I would enjoy talking to Kohn. And he didn't disappoint.
 

 

FCAT school rewards: Shifting money to bonuses hurts teachers' appeal for higher pay
http://www.trendigest.info/docs/fcat_school_rewards.htm
Daytona Beach News-Journal
Editorial
October 28, 2003

Some excellent arguments against teachers' accepting FCAT bribe money -- EDs

Teachers are the first to point out that attaching money rewards and penalties to a school's performance on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test corrupts rather than improves education. Why, then, are teachers abetting the corruption by grasping for FCAT's spoils?

 

 

Test-prepping in Martin is a sad commentary

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/auto/epaper/editions/wednesday/opinion_f3e93f33d0b0d1d00049.html

Palm Beach Post

Letter to the Editor by Gretchen Pech
October 29, 2003

Palm Beach parent reacts negatively to FCAT test prep. -- EDs

The Oct. 19 article "Drop in SAT scores motivates in-class practice" stated that "Martin County High produced no National Merit semifinalists." I believe the reasons for this poor performance include the FCAT (i.e., over-testing) and student apathy. After reading it, I asked my daughter, a senior there, about her effort on the PSAT, on which she scored in the 93rd percentile. She shrugged and responded: "I thought it was just another mindless test like the FCAT. I didn't even try. What's the point?"

 

 

Terminate FCAT
http://www.news-press.com/news/opinion/031101spotlightmailbag.html

Ft. Myers News-Press

Letters to the Editor by Donna O'Day and Kevin Godsea

November 1, 2003

 

Two Lee County parents take exception to a Fort Myers News-Press editorial urging the state Board of Education to continue with plans to raise FCAT passing scores and to state policies requiring classroom grades to conform to FCAT scores. -- EDs

Re: Your editorial, “Don’t let up on FCAT standards,” Oct. 25. You are absolutely correct, the standards should not be lowered. They should be abolished.
 

Recommended Sites

http://www.resultsforamerica.org/education/

Results for America is a project of the Civil Society Institute, with the goal of advocating "for those whose voices most need to be heard in the coming year, the people most directly affected by decisions made in Washington, D.C., state houses and corporate boardrooms around the country." Education is one of their four major areas of emphasis, with special attention to high stakes testing. Among the resources available online is a downloadable education toolkit.
 

Recommended Reading

 

The "New SAT," scheduled to be administered first in March 2005, will reflect a monumental change from the SAT's traditional mission of predicting success in college. Instead, the new test has the avowed goal of influencing high school curriculums. When the New SAT goes beyond basic algebra and geometry, and tests grammar and writing, schools are likely to hold ALL students to standards previously required only for the college-bound.  Time Magazine writer John Cloud spent six months observing the development of the New SAT from the inside, and his article provides thoughtful analysis of the effects of this fundamental shift in the SAT. -- EDs

 

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/printout/0,8816,524393,00.html

 

Recommended Books

 

Raising Standards or Raising Barriers?
Inequality and High-Stakes Testing in Public Education
 

edited by Gary Orfield and Mindy L. Kornhaber

http://www.civilrightsproject.harvard.edu/research/books/raising.php
 

Quotes of the Week
 

"Standardized testing is to learning what ...
A. "Rain is to parade ...
B. "Monkey wrench is to gear ...
C. "Cellulite is to thigh ...
D. "Pigeon dropping is to window ... "

Alfie Kohn's answering machine message, quoted by columnist Ralph De La Cruz in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, October 28, 2003
 

 

'The more emphasis we put on the FCAT, the more the classroom experience is devalued for all children. In fact, we don't need to hire more teachers, all we need to hire is FCAT tutors as the FCAT has now successfully taken over the classroom."

-- Kevin Godsea, Fort Myers, in News-Press, November 1, 2003

 

F-TREND is a project of  the Florida Coalition for Assessment Reform (www.fcar.info).

John L. Perry and Gloria Pipkin, editors

 

Links in this e-newsletter may change or expire on a daily or weekly basis. Some links may also require local website registration, which is generally free.

Have you seen an article, web site, book, or other resource you think should be recommended in F-TREND?

Send the URL to suggestions@...

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