Friday, February 23, 2007
An Exam that Measures Growth
As we continue the administration of the FCAT, I receive so much feedback about the FCAT from parents, business leaders, and community members. Many say that student growth can not be measured on a single snapshot like FCAT. Research would bear this out. I am a firm believer that what gets measured gets done and that we should have high stakes exams. That said, I do feel that we need to encourage our state to substitute the single snapshot type assessment to one which measures growth over time for each child. This would help ensure a year or more of academic growth in a year’s service---and more for students who are behind.
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7 comments:
I am in 100% agreement. Also, I would like this to be assessed at appropriate times. If the test is to measure the skills/strategy taught in a specific grade, then it needs to be administered towards the end. The FCAT is to measure the knowledge of third grade benchmarks yet it is given in the third quarter. That last quarter is really necessary as alot may be still be taught so timing is also important. Also, some students fail a grade due to being poor test takers yet they make A-B honor roll. Some students make D's and F's and we are told to pass them due to them earning a 3 or 4 on the FCAT. Though the FCAT measures student knowledge, I do not feel it should be on a pass/fail basis. Students are becoming TOO nervous and are having anxiety attacks and other issues because of the importance of the test and knowing they might fail. So under these circumstances, is this test really giving an accurate depiction of the student's knowledge?
I agree! The FCAT is not a fair assessment of our students or our teachers. There must be a better way.
The way the FCAT is used now offers some of the least valid evaluation possible. We are measuring this year's class against last year's class. For me, as an ESE teacher in a tiny school, I am literally measuring one student against another. How does that show either student's growth? While the law of large numbers would obviously smooth out some of those difficulties looking at groups state-wide, we unfortunately "grade" our schools on a grade-by-grade level, and too frequently the law of large numbers is invalidated.
Finally, there seems to be a fundamental assumption that all students at a certain grade are equal and that all are taught by equal teachers. Obviously, fundamentally wrong!
We have the capability of measuring individual growth. We should use it.
Measuring growth is important. The FCAT is necessary and useful. When I started teaching we were giving the CTBS. This test was not aligned to Florida Standards. We were measuring what we were not teaching! Now we have a test that measures a student on their grade level standards (which is what we should all be teaching and asssessing all year anyway). In order to be retained, a student must be 2 or more years BELOW grade level expectations. Should we really send a kid on who will be 3 or more years behind?? And let's face it, getting a 25 percentile on the NRT passes them anyway. If they still can't manage that we give them portfolio assessments OVER and OVER until they pass. Or better yet, we have the final fail safe of summer school(usually completed in 15 days or less). Now there's remediation of three years or more deficiency in 3 weeks. Our "high standards" are a joke. As a teacher who teaches and assesses to the standards, my level one kids were already struggling to pass. They should be. My goal is to have them make gains, and they do. But making up three or more years defecit in 3 nine weeks is not realistic. We try as teachers to work miracles, and we do - it is not always shown by the test scores. Research has shown that social promotion does not help, neither does retention. Only constant, intensive remediation will close our gap. The research has the answers, we just have to implement it. We are however at the mercy of the test and the grading system that is placed on all of us from district to teachers to students. The FCAT has it's flaws, I know. I could go on and on. Overall, it could be an excellent measurement. The system (state and district) is flawed far beyond the test. I hate the pressure I receive form administration. I hate having to put it on my kids. I do a great job, My FCAT gains even show that. I have always recieved performance pay and I am grateful for it. I will not even have the chance this year because of the evaluation criteria. I am very much against the district loosing money that is freely given. They system should be fair for distribution across the state. Criteria should be objective and measurable and not be tied to the subjective evaluation of a principal who may or may not think you are outstanding. Could we maybe address that as well in the future.....That is another flawed system.
WOW! Said so well #4! However, my concern is with the students who you do not intend upon failing. My 6th grader has always had A's and B's and the occasional C. When he took the FCAT he got a Level 1 in Reading and was retained. There was no portfolio to help him. Noone anticipated him failing the FCAT. I changed schools due to my concern of the level of instruction. Well, the next year, he received comparable grades though they were a little higher. He then received two Level 3's. Now, I wonder why I wasted a year of his life sitting in 6th grade twice due to a test score. Some of my students in the past, I knew there was a great chance they would get a Level 1 due to the performance in class. Yet, the scores come in and they do very well due to them being taught test taking strategies. IF they were given the test orally or it had more written answers instead of all multiple choice, I feel strongly they would have failed. The FCAT does have its merit but I do not feel that it shoud be pass or fail. Many of us have taught the student that has a phenomenally high or low score that was totally unexpected. Then someone has to point the finger at you as to why that student performed that way. The stakes are too high for this one test.
Another concern is with the scores of FCAT being the tool that determines the next year's level of instruction. If a student gets a 3, 4, or 5 on the FCAT in middle school that student is automatically placed in advanced classes. The parent does not have the option of having the child put in regular classes. I am deeply concerned, especially if that child has been retained and happens to perform better the second time around. Is it in the child's best interest to be put in advanced classes because of the score on a test that he has taken twice?
Keep up the good work.
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