Is the FCAT Program A Failure? (Part I)

This article is the first of three parts on the FCAT Program in Florida.  In Part I, the author explores educational reforms prior to the introduction of FCAT;  next, he delves into the perceived problems of FCAT, including competency testing and school drop out rates.  Part III concludes with some suggestions for overcoming the “FCAT problem.”

I look back to pre – 1996 when the FCAT was first instituted. My son was still in school and I had felt this was a great thing. Not that there had been a total lapse of educational standards, but it appeared from the hype we had started preparing students for the twenty first century. It was obvious the use of computers was to become as common as fruit for breakfast, and the need to look for a new level of education for our children was becoming an absolute necessity. Technology was moving at an incredible rate and it appeared to me the schools had not been keeping up with the increasingly rapid rate of that development.

It was obvious colleges would begin to delve deeper and deeper into technology, the ramifications of which would be widespread, even at the most mundane career levels and in the most mundane career fields. Those wanting to be a part of the technological growth would have to enter college at a level light years ahead of the students even a decade previous. I didn’t feel the students were even close to ready for those challenges. Fortunately my son was an avid reader, and incredibly curious, and I was absolutely blessed. He learned outside the classroom things I didn’t know even as a working engineer in the telecommunications field.

Not only had the rate of new technology increased, it was becoming exponential at that point, and it seemed the schools were already behind. If they were behind then, I asked, how will they catch up? How well prepared would our children be for the workforce they were facing, and for society in general? I thought those were two very pertinent questions, but unfortunately, without answers then.

The state had, recognized these issues, and as most political entities do, commissioned a group to study the new standards for education. In 1995 and 1996, the Florida Educational Reform and Accountability Commission recommended the development of a statewide assessment system. These recommendations, called the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Design, led to development of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, or what we know to be the FCAT. The commission addressed seven areas. These areas, although not completely ignored in the past by the High School Competency Test (HSCT), were language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, health and physical education, foreign language, and the arts.

The Sunshine State Standards it was called. The needed core of knowledge was its basis.

Before the Educational Reform Storm

Educational reform has actually been taking place in Florida for over thirty years. Florida has, it seems, been the proverbial hotbed of educational controversy. Why, you ask? I’m glad you brought it up.

I am not trying to denigrate the South in anyway. I was born in the South and am deeply proud of my upbringing. Although I have lived in Florida most of my adult life, I lived in the center of southerness, having resided in Jackson, Ms. In my youth. Hindsight being what it is, I look back to my education there and feel I can speak about education in the South. It’s bad. It’s been bad for many years, and although it is better across the entire region now, it still doesn’t match other regions of the United States.

Dating back to 1976 education in Florida was a bit of a controversial matter. Most standards were centered primarily around communications and mathematics. There was nothing wrong with that. In those days those two mental functions were the primary center of note. They were not only the concern most of the better paying employers but of society in general. As we all know, life was much simpler then. It was easier to prepare a student for their life ahead. College years would allow them to focus on a specialty and bring them to their perspective pars in their particular fields. No problem, right?

As the years rolled on by however, again, as we all know and have seen, things began to change dramatically. Technology avalanched into the workplace and the focus of student preparation suddenly had to broaden widely from its focus on communications and mathematics to encompass a wide variety of subjects. Colleges required students to be far more prepared for their extensive studies. Even kindergarteners needed to learn more, earlier, and the whole kindergarten through twelfth grade studies had to be ramped up and it was. Just as suddenly there was a need for a gold standard to see if the progressive nature of the school’s new requirements were meeting the needs of students entering college and the work force.

Enter the Educational Accountability act of 1976. Not only was there a need, but now there was a law that stated the needs must be met. There it was on paper, all the requirements and means to measure educational success. It was redefined regularly and as late as 1990 the legislature expressed and pressed the importance of student accountability. Minimum standards were clearly stated and had to be met before the child could move on.

These standards were compiled by a combination of staff from the Division of Public Schools, the Florida Department of Education, various appropriate faculty from the state’s universities, and community colleges. School district teachers, curriculum and testing personnel, administrators, and laypersons were added as well to round out the reviewers. It seemed to be a good system and all views were taken into account. It was so good in their view the results of the study remained effective, with some revisions along the way, into the 1993 – 1994 school year.

The truth was, however, the system wasn’t good enough and students weren’t getting the preparation they needed. Even with revisions, the revisions that evolved into the High School Competency Test, which was instituted and first administered in 1994, it had become quite obvious the changes made weren’t working and something had to be done. Florida continually wound up on the bottom end of the school quality list.

Once again the state stepped in under the Bush administration and came up with the FCAT. More controversy ensued and has remained a thorn in the sides of the educational community. It has become such an issue the Florida Department of Education has come up with a document to clarify their feelings, entitled FCAT Facts vs. Myths (http://fcat.fldoe.org/pdf/myths-facts.pdf).  Clearly this has become a media nightmare for them and they are doing the best they can to quell the negative feelings about the test. In reading this document, it appears to most they are more than a bit frustrated at public perception and are trying to put a positive spin on the test.

During my research, however, I have found few positive statements about the test. Teachers, parents, and students alike hate the test, almost as a rule. The teachers who support the test are accused of being lazy because they teach to the test and don’t have to come up with their own lesson plans. Those that hate the test typically complain they don’t have time to do anything but teach the test and creativity and individual learning is out the window.