State: Streamlined FCAT built for speed

Later this school year when Florida students take the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, they'll have a little more time to finish and they'll have fewer of the most demanding questions.

State officials say the changes won't make the test easier, but they hope it will answer some of the biggest complaints from educators around the state.

"We worked real hard to accomplish what was asked of us the most: people wanted to take the test later and get results back quicker," said Education Commissioner Tom Gallagher.

Last school year, test results came in three weeks late, well after school districts let students out for the summer. That resulted in frustration for teachers who rely on scores to tell how their students are doing. It also resulted in the collection of a more than $4-million fine from the company hired to score the tests. One of the reasons the company gave for the delay was that it had difficulty hiring enough "readers" to score the tests.

Both Gallagher and Gov. Jeb Bush have said they were determined to arrange this year's test so that students could take it as late as possible, but get results sooner.

Here are the changes:

The test will be given later in the year, starting with the writing test on Feb. 21. Reading and math will be administered March 12-15. Testing was done earlier in February and March last school year. Students in most grades will have an extra 10 minutes to complete the FCAT. State officials hope that will helps eliminate some of the stress associated with the test.

Though there haven't been widespread problems with students failing to finish the test, the state wants to give students every chance to show what they know.

The number of "performance tasks" has been reduced. Those are the questions that are not multiple choice or true or false, but that require a written answer or the plotting of a graph.

Those kinds of questions tend to be harder, and they certainly are harder to score because the scoring can't be done with a machine, as multiple choice questions can. So by reducing the number of performance item questions, it will be easier to get the tests scored and returned to school districts.

Previously the test included eight to 10 of the tougher performance item questions. That will be reduced to four to eight.

The test results are supposed to be released before the end of the 2001 school year. But this year, the results will come in two batches: the machine-scored questions in the first batch, and the lengthier performance item questions in the second.

The FCAT is the centerpiece of Florida's school accountability system and Gov. Jeb Bush's A+ Education Plan. Based largely on FCAT scores, the state assigns an A through F letter grade to each school, and the grades can lead to financial rewards for high-scoring or improvingschools or vouchers for chronically failing schools.

Gallagher said that despite the changes in the test, the state still will be able to compare scores from one year to another.

But ever since the state started having students take the FCAT in 1998, it seems there are significant changes each year, making comparisons difficult. The passing score has been adjusted. Other tests, including a test for making national comparisons, have been added. And last school year test results for certain groups of students -- including those who don't spend at least four months at the school previous to the test -- did not count toward the school's overall grade.

Educators who learned of the changes Thursday agreed that they will help the state get results back in time. But many expressed puzzlement over some changes.

Some questioned the wisdom of reducing the number of "performance items."

"The whole idea with the FCAT was to get away from true/false, multiple choice," said Judith Westfall, associate superintendent in charge of curriculum for Pinellas County schools. "I realize it takes more time to score all the performance items, but I hope we're not losing anything" by having fewer.

Gallagher said the reduction in the number of those kinds of questions will not reduce the test's rigor or usefulness.

When asked whether these changes would ensure that the test results would be released on time this school year, Gallagher said he expects this "streamlining" will help make that happen. If not, Gallagher said, the contract with the test-scoring company still lets the state impose severe penalties if scores are returned late.

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Lucy Morgan

From the Times state desk