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Old 10-12-2007, 10:40 AM
 
Location: NY/ FL
267 posts, read 1,140,906 times
Reputation: 93

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Hey everyone,
I hope you are doing good. It's been a while since I've been on here. Trying my darndest to adjust to the FL life. LOL


Anyway, I was wondering what some of your opinions were about the FCAT's. I have a friend who's daughter failed it and was held back. This child does very well throughout the school year, passes all regular tests with no problem, but tanks the fcat. She is repeating 3rd grade again and obviously doing very well. She knows all of the info, but has test anxiety. Does anyone know of anyone who has had any experience with this. To me, it does not seem fair if a child is an A student all year, fails the FCAT and then has to repeat the entire year for one test.
Thanks.
Jenn
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Old 10-12-2007, 10:55 AM
 
Location: Florida
272 posts, read 1,531,031 times
Reputation: 159
Quote:
Originally Posted by Minniemom View Post
... I have a friend who's daughter failed it and was held back. This child does very well throughout the school year, passes all regular tests with no problem, but tanks the fcat. She is repeating 3rd grade again and obviously doing very well...
This sort of thing happens all the time. One of the junior coaches on my daughter's swim team was a solid A-B high school student. She didn't do well on the FCAT and was not allowed to graduate with her class. She was required to attend summer school in order to receive her HS diploma in August. It was really traumatic for her and is something that will be with her forever. She had already been accepted to college and had to postpone her starting semester until Jan.

The FCAT is useless garbage. I have never met a single parent or teacher who likes it. Many groups have been pushing for years to have it done away with. It was created by Jeb Bush and he loved it but many are hoping Charlie Crist can be persuaded to dispose of it. In many instances, schools are more focused on teaching the FCAT than just having a general curriculum. All students of the same grade take the same test, despite the fact that different students are enrolled in different courses. To compensate for this, in many schools, teachers are directed to cover FCAT skills, regardless of what subject they are supposed to be covering. This really shortchanges students.

Private school students and home school students are not required to take it. It is not unusual to have parents whose children fail the FCAT but are otherwise good students, remove their children from public school rather than hold them back a year. I guess the potential exists for a good student to repeatedly fail the FCAT and be held back in a single grade several times. I have to imagine if a student is 19 years old and in the 9th grade, they will most likely drop out. This might help explain Florida's high drop out rate.

Last edited by deckardc; 10-12-2007 at 11:08 AM..
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Old 10-12-2007, 11:01 AM
 
Location: Ocala area in Central FL
627 posts, read 2,848,944 times
Reputation: 338
FCAT is trash testing at it's best... it proves nothing.

My son failed the reading portion, and he reads years ahead of his classmates, always has! I was dumb-founded to say the least.

Politics should stay OUT of the classroom IMO...

Last edited by MyHomeIsInOcala; 10-12-2007 at 11:02 AM.. Reason: sp
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Old 10-12-2007, 12:21 PM
 
Location: US
3,091 posts, read 3,965,668 times
Reputation: 1648
My sweet son has never passed the reading portion of the FCAT. We have him in a private school and, to our shock and surprise, he is an A-B student in regular classes. Just shows what a different setting/method of teaching can do. With regard to your message below, after she attended summer school, did she have to take the FCAT again, or did she just get her diploma. Thanks.

[quote=deckardc;1715868]This sort of thing happens all the time. One of the junior coaches on my daughter's swim team was a solid A-B high school student. She didn't do well on the FCAT and was not allowed to graduate with her class. She was required to attend summer school in order to receive her HS diploma in August.
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Old 10-12-2007, 12:29 PM
 
3,842 posts, read 10,508,743 times
Reputation: 3206
I am a middle school teacher. Find little to no value whatsoever in state mandated testing.
Most, if not all children, get test anxiety by the time the test rolls around b/c it's been pounded into their brains how vitally important it is that they "pass". There is no learning. There is no exploring. There is no creativity. There is nothing.

State mandated testing is a failure of the education system that can be directly linked to No Child Left Behind. It is about numbers for politicians to use & administators to be threatened over. It is a true, true shame.

While children need to be held accountable for learning, their entire school year should not be based on a rote memorization test.
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Old 10-12-2007, 01:31 PM
 
1,770 posts, read 8,246,337 times
Reputation: 484
I remember someone in Tallahassee (was it Jeb Bush?) who makes up all of the rules for these tests couldn't pass a 10th grade test for them self.
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Old 10-12-2007, 03:26 PM
 
Location: Central Florida
940 posts, read 1,367,495 times
Reputation: 820
Quote:
Originally Posted by Minniemom View Post
Hey everyone,
I hope you are doing good. It's been a while since I've been on here. Trying my darndest to adjust to the FL life. LOL


Anyway, I was wondering what some of your opinions were about the FCAT's. I have a friend who's daughter failed it and was held back. This child does very well throughout the school year, passes all regular tests with no problem, but tanks the fcat. She is repeating 3rd grade again and obviously doing very well. She knows all of the info, but has test anxiety. Does anyone know of anyone who has had any experience with this. To me, it does not seem fair if a child is an A student all year, fails the FCAT and then has to repeat the entire year for one test.
Thanks.
Jenn
Hi, Minniemom,
I saw this and I just had to chime in. Plus the fact that we just moved here 2 years ago for Long Island, West Islip!!

Yes, FCAT does stink!!! My son can here when he was in 11th grade and oh how hard he tried to pass that test and also his Senior Project!!!! This test really took away all my son's self confindence!!!! It is hard because the longer you are here, the more you are drilled to take this test!! So in the end no matter how good his grades and his Senior Project with failing the fcat my son was not able to graduate!!! So now he has to take it till he passes in order to get his diploma!! We do not like the FCAT!!

Well anyway, you will like Florida, just give it some time if you have any questions pm me!!!
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Old 10-12-2007, 08:20 PM
 
Location: NY/ FL
267 posts, read 1,140,906 times
Reputation: 93
I can't believe that with all of the parents AND educational professionals that are in total disagreement with this test, that there is nothing that we can do. I have two teachers in my family and yes, they also say that they don't have the time to teach "real" things in the classroom because they have to spend so much time on fcat preparation. I believe that this test is just setting our children up for failure and I wish wish wish that I knew about it before moving. At least I could have made an educated decision prior to moving here. I came here for a better life for my children, but this just seems rediculous.
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Old 10-12-2007, 08:23 PM
 
Location: NY/ FL
267 posts, read 1,140,906 times
Reputation: 93
Quote:
Originally Posted by kickinbackfl View Post
Hi, Minniemom,
I saw this and I just had to chime in. Plus the fact that we just moved here 2 years ago for Long Island, West Islip!!

Yes, FCAT does stink!!! My son can here when he was in 11th grade and oh how hard he tried to pass that test and also his Senior Project!!!! This test really took away all my son's self confindence!!!! It is hard because the longer you are here, the more you are drilled to take this test!! So in the end no matter how good his grades and his Senior Project with failing the fcat my son was not able to graduate!!! So now he has to take it till he passes in order to get his diploma!! We do not like the FCAT!!

Well anyway, you will like Florida, just give it some time if you have any questions pm me!!!
Oh, how I miss LI. I miss the trees and grass. I miss the butchers and bakeries. And good Pizza.

Where in Fl are you? I grew up in Lindenhurst. Not too far from WI.
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Old 10-12-2007, 08:47 PM
 
Location: US
3,091 posts, read 3,965,668 times
Reputation: 1648
It has recently been indicated here on this forum that Florida has risen from like 50th to 39th in education. Do you think (all opinions welcome) this is due to "No Child Left Behind" or the FCAT, both, or neither. I'm the first one in line to vote out the FCAT. On the other hand, I'm really happy Florida's educational standard has risen. What do you think.
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