Here's one of the special dishes that legislators are cooking up for education in committees in preparation for the legislative session.

Read the blog entry (replete with links to references) and post a comment on orlandosentinel.com.
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_educ....html#more-7815

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H.S. FCAT fading out but maybe getting harder first?

posted by lesliepostal on February, 1 2010

The FCAT will be phased out of Florida’s high schools in favor of new, end-of-course exams over the next several years. At least that seems to be the plan in Tallahassee, from both lawmakers and state educators.

But, in the meantime, there also seems to still be a movement afoot to making passing the FCAT — specifically the 10th-grade reading and math exams needed to graduate — harder.

That idea was proposed last year in a graduation standard bill that passed in the Florida House but not the Florida Senate.

This year, it seems lawmakers might just tackle graduation requirements and new end-of-course exams and leave the passing score issue to the State Board of Education.

Which might make sense since the previous hike in 10th-grade passing scores (which came in 2002) was also done by the State Board — and the DOE’s own materials say “the passing scores are…determined by the State Board of Education.”

It’s still not clear how this might all play out, but it seems there’s a possibility that passing the 10th-grade FCAT could get harder — until the test goes away all together.

Here’s what we do know so far:

As we’ve written before, the Florida Department of Education already is working to develop four end-of-course exams (algebra 1, geometry, biology and world history) and will be field testing two of them this spring.

The Florida House is working on a bill that would eventually create a dozen end-of-course tests.

The algebra and geometry exams (the first two out of the box) would replace the FCAT math tests given in 9th and 10th grade and the biology exam would replace the FCAT science exam now given in 11th grade.

Eventually, lawmakers want to see an English/language arts II exam to repalce the 10th-grade reading FCAT, said Rep. John Legg, chairman of the House pre-K-12 committee, which is working on the graduation bill.

Legg said his committee’s bill should be released next week and that he expects something similar to emerge on the Senate side.

These new exams could, in the future, become graduation requirements for students (in place of 10th grade reading and math FCAT exams) and part of the high school grading system.

Legg’s proposal will include the idea of making three of the exams “high-stakes” and the other nine, including chemistry, physics and U.S. history, “low-stakes,” meaning they are not graduation requirements.

Like other advocates of end-of-course exams, he thinks they better align what is taught and tested and can lead to higher student achievement.

The DOE will be field testing its algebra and geometry exams, which are computer based, starting May 4. All Central Florida school districts have at least some schools scheduled to take part in this pilot test effort.

Now, as to the passing scores on the 10th-grade FCAT….They are currently set so passing is a high-level 2 on the five-level test. Level 3 is grade level.

Some educators and advocates say it is time to bump up the passing scores so they at least show high school graduates have mastered, well, 10th-grade skills. So they want them at level 3.

John Padgett, a State Board member, said back in September he thinks the passing scores should be hiked and wants the board to tackle that issue.

Patricia Levesque, executive director of the Foundation for Florida’s Future, said the Jeb Bush-founded group will be pushing for the State Board to do just that this year. Last year, the group sought that change in legislation but this year it will be pushing for a rule change, she said.

Either way, if the passing scores go up to grade level, more teenagers could struggle. The 10th-grade FCAT reading test, in particular, jams up lots of students. Last year, just 37 percent scored at grade level or better on that reading test.

This quote from Sen. Nancy Detert seems to sum up what might be happening in education this year in Florida:

“We are talking major changes and not all of them will be welcome,” said Detert, R-Venice, head of the Senate committee that oversees public schools. “But the overarching goal is to how to wake our kids up and make them better performers, let them receive the information they need and exit the building and immediately get a job and compete with the rest of the world.”