Delores L. Walker, Reporter

What may have some redeeming qualities in some eyes seems to have given way to growing frustration by many more. It just depends on whom you converse with about the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) to learn which side of the opinion they favor.

But, never the less students in grades 3 through 10 at Lafayette District Schools triumphantly braved the tests and from all accounts to date made the grade as they tested on the 4th, 5th, 11th and 12th of March.



Since 1998 the FCAT has been administered in all Florida Public Schools. The test results form the basis for the school accountability program, and the grade 10 FCAT has now become the high school graduation test.



According to the Florida Legislature accountability for student learning is the key focus of Florida’s system of school improvement. The student’s grades from the FCAT are used to determine the educational status and annual progress for individual students and schools.

Using standardized tests to measure a student’s, or a school’s, performance is not new. Students have been sharpening their No.2 pencils to fill in the bubbles for decades. What is new is that the tests are getting tougher and the stakes higher.



In the past week, many parents realized the FCAT given three months before the end of the school year could determine whether their child is promoted to the next grade or retained in third grade. According to the parents, many of the struggling children are honor roll students, but have difficulty when trying to master a timed test.



“The idea of failing school is a pretty horrendous thing,” said one parent. “That’s what I feel is wrong. What a thing to push on a kid. To say ‘you fail school if you don’t pass this test.'”

Seniors are also taking the FCAT, some on their last try. This is the first senior class that has to pass the FCAT in order to receive their diploma.



Teachers and school staff have worked tirelessly to prepare the students. According to some, teachers know they must push all the buttons to the limit because the worse a school does on the state’s annual report card, the more they are pushed to do better the next year.

That may lead you to ask, “How are the FCAT scores used for school accountability?” The answer is that student performance on the FCAT is part of the criteria for school grades. For example, for a school to earn a grade of “A”, a school must demonstrate 95 percent of its standard curriculum students were tested and 50 percent of the students earned a score of Level 3 or above on the FCAT reading test.



Educators are going to great lengths to make sure that the Lafayette School District is prepared. Both schools have consistently scored high.



We welcome the input of our readers. You may express your concerns in the form of a letter to The Free Press or call the Department of Education at 850/488-8198.



Delores L. Walker may be reached at The Mayo Free Press: P.O. Box 248 or by e-mail at mayofreepress@alltel.net