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Stress of FCAT zaps students' zeal to learn

By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK
Published October 6, 2006

Mary-Odessa Cheatom wants to minor in music and major in pre-medicine at Stetson University next fall. Articulate and thoughtful, the 18-year-old plans to become a bladder surgeon.

Classmate Herman Velasquez has fewer specific details for his future, but he hopes computer engineering will play a role. Rebecca Moore would like to work as an obstetrical nurse.

These Leto High School seniors think big about the future. They face obstacles, though, not the least of which is the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. Without a passing score, seniors don't earn diplomas.

Instead, they get certificates of completion, really little more than a sheet of paper that says thanks for coming 13 years and passing your classes, see ya.

Last week, about 420 Leto High juniors and seniors - that's more than half - retook the FCAT. Some, like Cheatom and Moore, had missed the passing mark before by what amounts to one question. Others, like Velasquez, had a bigger chasm to overcome.

The same drama unfolded at high schools across Hillsborough County, where more than 9,100 juniors and seniors had yet to pass the sophomore level test.

Many lawmakers see nothing wrong with this scenario. They talk about education reform in terms of outcomes.

They say if students can't pass a 10th-grade test, they haven't earned a diploma, much less the right to cut you open.

Others argue that teachers should use the FCAT to determine where students aren't doing well and then tailor their instruction accordingly. They decry the high stakes attached to a single exam, saying so much more goes into academic success.

It's fodder for this year's race for governor.

It's reality for the students. An anxiety-inducing, seemingly arbitrary reality.

"I tried to go to bed early" the night before the retest, Cheatom recalls. "In the middle of the night, I had a stress attack. I had a dream that the FCAT had only one passage and it had five questions and I couldn't pass it. My graduation depended on five questions."

Questions, she and others say, that often have no clear connection to the readings that accompany them. Or things like, what do you think the author feels? As if they can read the writer's mind.

"It's a lot of pressure," says Jameshia Reid, who moved to Florida from Georgia where, she pointedly notes, students do not take the FCAT. "We didn't learn things in the same way."

Yet she still must pass the test. So, too, must students who have grown up with a language other than English. Caroline Sanchez, who grew up speaking Spanish in Puerto Rico, falls into that category.

Sanchez moved to Florida 13 months ago, and last week marked her third try on the FCAT. She already had passed the reading section, but the math portion with its often confusing word problems has so far trapped her and, perhaps, her goal of joining the Army.

Were the test in Spanish, she thinks, her chances would rise. Does that make her undereducated? Could you pass a test in Arabic?

Velasquez says his teachers have done their best to keep him enthusiastic and confident about high school. "I don't want to walk unless I have my diploma in my hand," he says. "That's the point."

But he and his classmates quickly add that the test has dampened their excitement for education.

They loathe having to repeat the same intensive reading course, sometimes with the same assignments over and over, instead of taking interesting electives. They rue losing the love of reading because it's being crammed down their throats in the FCAT way.

In fact, Reid says, the fun of learning often gets pushed aside by the zeal to conquer the FCAT.

"If I don't pass, honestly, I just think I'll give up," she says.

Results are due in December. There's another retest scheduled for the spring. Leto also plans to sign up all seniors who have yet to pass for the ACT, which can be used as a substitute if a student scores high enough.

Have ideas for future columns? Contact Jeffrey S. Solochek at solochek@sptimes.com or 813 269-5304.

[Last modified October 5, 2006, 06:36:30]