The anecdotal evidence offered by some educators sounded interesting: More teenagers were taking the General Educational Development test, a trend apparently fueled by students giving up on the high-stakes Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.
The statistics provided by the state Department of Education backed up the theory. The state said the number of 16-to-19-year olds taking the GED test soared by 78 percent in 2003, the first year in which the FCAT became a graduation requirement. The St. Petersburg Times published a story June 14 on page 1A about the educators' speculation and how the state's numbers supported it.
Now the state says it provided the newspaper with inaccurate numbers.
Figures from the GED Testing Service in Washington, which refused to provide numbers for the article, show the number of teens taking the GED test rose by a more modest 17 percent in 2003. That increase parallels the rise in overall GED test-takers. So the speculation that the FCAT is chasing teens out of school and toward the GED test appears to be no more than an educated guess at the moment.
Education Department spokeswoman Frances Marine blamed the state's incorrect numbers on an inaccurate computer query.
