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In a first, at least 300 Pinellas seniors - among the more than 12,000 in Florida - try to earn a standard diploma.
By DONNA WINCHESTER, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 16, 2003
Courtney Thomas came to Seminole High School March 5 with knots in her stomach. Her palms were sweating and her body was tense.
As her senior classmates walked to their first-period calculus or physics classes, she headed to a testing classroom. She sat with a handful of other students and prepared to take the math portion of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test for the fourth time.
Courtney, who maintains a B average, is one of at least 300 Pinellas seniors who need to pass part or all of the test to graduate with a standard diploma. The students are among more than 1,200 in the Tampa Bay area and more than 12,000 statewide who took their last shot at passing the test before graduation.
As usual, Courtney left the room with a sinking feeling. "I came out feeling depressed," she said, adding that she couldn't put her finger on what had gone wrong. "I wondered, 'Did I do it right this time?' I felt stupid because I have to keep taking this test over and over."
The class of 2003 is the first to experience such pressure. Other graduating classes were required to pass the High School Competency Test, a less rigorous test that required students to perform at grade level. Passing the reading and math sections of the FCAT became mandatory in 2001, when today's seniors were in 10th grade.
The seniors won't learn until early May, when the test scores are expected, if they will receive a standard diploma or a certificate of completion.
For Courtney, a diploma will mean a ticket to higher education and the chance to reach her dream of becoming a cardiologist. A certificate of completion will do little more than verify that she showed up at school for 12 years. It will prevent her from attending a community college and will dash any hope for entry to a four-year university.
"We have more students struggling with the FCAT than we had who were struggling with the High School Competency Test," said Catherine Fleeger, assistant superintendent for high school education. "The FCAT requires students to use critical thinking and analysis. The answers will not just jump out at them."
To better prepare students for the more rigorous test, the district created remedial math and reading materials and made them available to high schools. Many schools offered tutoring or classes to give seniors a better shot at passing the section or sections they had failed.
At Seminole High, special education teacher Jim Berrill led a 91/2-week FCAT preparation class for students who needed help with math. The class met five days a week for 85 minutes and covered 48 lessons from an FCAT preparation book.
As difficult as the math portion can be, Department of Education statistics show that more students have trouble with the reading section. It poses special challenges for those who speak English as a second language, said Michelle Johnson, an English teacher at Northeast High School.
One of Johnson's students, Bani Tufekcic, passed the math section on his first try but has struggled repeatedly with the reading portion. The Bosnian-born 19-year-old honors student spoke no English when he came to this country four years ago from Germany.
Bani and about 40 other seniors met with Johnson for two 83-minute periods each day the week before the test.
Johnson's help was invaluable, Bani said. Neither of his parents speak English, so he couldn't turn to them for assistance. His hopes of studying law enforcement at St. Petersburg College were beginning to fade. He feels optimistic that he passed the test this time. Still, he remains anxious.
"I try not to think about it too much, but I am worried about it," he said. "If I don't pass, almost a whole year of college will go away from me."
Johnson applauded Bani's dedication, and that of the other students she tutored.
"I had a classroom full of people and they were all serious. They all wanted to pass," she said. "It's not that they're not good students. It's that they're not good test takers. A lot of the kids didn't know test strategy, how to read the questions and be able to find the information."
Alex Epanchin, the district's director of testing, said several conditions besides a student's intelligence can contribute to a poor score on the FCAT.
"My suspicion is there may be some kids who just don't test well, whose averages are just fine, but who freeze at the time of the assessment," he said.
Epanchin disagrees with the state's policy of placing so much importance on something beyond the work students do in the classroom. And Johnson, the Northeast High teacher, said that although the test may be a good assessment tool, it is unfair to students that so much of their future depends on it.
"They try really, really hard. They just fall short. For some, it's the only thing they're falling short in."