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Governor wants clarity in FCAT grades scale
By DIANE RADO © St. Petersburg Times, published December 8, 2000 TALLAHASSEE -- Your child comes home with the results of his state FCAT test in math: a score of 312. What does it mean? Is your child performing at grade level? Gov. Jeb Bush says that's not clear, and he wants to clear up the confusion. Bush urged newly elected Education Commissioner Charlie Crist on Thursday to come up with a "common sense" way to explain state test results and other education data to the public. "I'm a little frustrated," Bush told Crist in a meeting that also included Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan, a former education commissioner. In addition to, or instead of, a number score, parents should be told plainly if their child is performing at, above or below his grade level, Bush said. He also told Crist that the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, or FCAT, should be administered closer to the end of the school year, to give students more time to master the concepts of the test. This school year, the FCAT tests in writing will be given Feb. 21, and the reading and math tests will be administered March 12-15. The Department of Education originally decided on earlier dates but pushed them back to give more learning time to students. Third- through 10th-graders will take the reading and math tests, and fourth-, eighth- and 10th-graders also will take the writing test. The problem with taking the test later in the school year is getting back the results in time to do anything with them. Last year, results from February and March testing came back three weeks later than expected -- after students had left school for the summer. The company hired to score the tests was fined more than $4-million. Department of Education spokeswoman JoAnn Carrin also said it would be difficult to convert current FCAT scores into the format that Bush wants, which would show whether the students are at, above or below grade level. "It would take significant staff work and statistical research," Carrin said. Parents do get some idea of how their children are performing because the test scores are divided into levels of achievement. For example, a fifth-grader scoring between 326 and 354 on the math FCAT is performing at a Level 3. "A Level 3 student answers many of the questions correctly but is generally less successful with questions that are most challenging," according to a Department of Education description. The FCAT was one of several topics discussed Thursday among Crist, Bush and Brogan. With the state facing massive teaching shortages over the next decade, Bush said recruiting teachers has to be a top state priority. Incentives could be higher pay and quicker ways to get certified and in the classroom, Bush said. "We're going to have to make a long-term commitment," Bush said. The Department of Education estimates that Florida needs 10,000 new teachers a year for the next 10 years. Crist is proposing a plan that would give aspiring teachers college scholarships for tuition and fees, and $3,000 in living expenses, if they agree to teach in a Florida public school for four years after graduating. Crist, a former state senator from Pinellas, won the education commissioner's job in November with support from Bush. He takes office in January. On Thursday, Crist thanked Bush for his help and asked for his cooperation in trying to expand school safety programs and eliminate portables, which are used to house students at crowded schools. Bush indicated that he supports putting in place tough growth management rules that make sure there's enough room in local schools before a new development can go forward. Developers, for example, might have to agree to donate land for a school in exchange for permission to build.
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From the Times state desk
From the state wire
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