Fail One Test, Fail for the Year: Florida Education and the FCAT

Fail One Test, Fail for the Year: Florida Education and the FCAT

Imagine working hard all school year and managing decent A and B grades. Imagine, too, that failing a single test nullifies all that hard work and results in grade

retention. This experience happens to hundreds of students each year and the test they fail is the FCAT. Relying on test scores to make critical educational decisions about students or schools, otherwise known as high-stakes testing, has become commonplace in Florida education. So much so, that curriculum become dedicated to one objective - pass the state test. However, the FCAT should not be used to determine promotion and retention in grade levels because it limits the curriculum, is prone to error and shortchanges the future of young students. By examining the statistics and effects of high-stakes testing, this story makes the determination that instead of improving Florida education, the FCAT does the opposite by eliminating curriculum and holding children’s future back years at a time.