Florida board lowers FCAT writing test passing score

#1
myrobbins7

myrobbins7

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#1
An emergency rule adopted today will lower the passing grade for Florida's standardized writing test to keep the failure rate about the same as last year after preliminary results showed it would have dramatically increased otherwise.

Last year, 81 percent of fourth-graders passed the writing test, but the preliminary results showed that would drop to 27 percent. The emergency rule will keep it at 81 percent.

Florida board lowers FCAT writing test passing score | TBO.com
 
#2
#2
throw more money at it.

teachers union cant make it happen on the shoe string budget they are on.

all it needs is more tax dollars and everything will be fine.
 
#3
#3
NEOCON said:
throw more money at it.

teachers union cant make it happen on the shoe string budget they are on.

all it needs is more tax dollars and everything will be fine.
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Did you read the article?

From the article, it appears as though two initial changes in this year's test were made: (1) the test was made more rigorous; and, (2) the determination of failure was altered from 3.5/6 to 4/6. Preliminary results indicated that only 27% of the students would pass this year's test (as opposed to 81% the previous year: an easier test with an easier grading scale). In order to keep that from happening, they have kept the same rigorous test but altered the scale from 4/6 to 3/6.

Sure, funding is tied to the test; however, there are instances when tests are actually made too difficult. Should funding be restricted if the administrators made an error in making a test too rigorous? That certainly appears absurd.

Is this test too rigorous? Neither you nor I know the answer to that question; however, I cannot imagine such a significant drop, in one year, across the board can be solely explained as a failing of the teachers (the same who produced an 81% passing rate, across the board, in the previous year).
 
#4
#4
I'm disturbed by this, because, somewhere along the line, someone obviously missed the fact that the new scoring would cut the pass rate by about 2/3. In one year?

Don't see how they fail to anticipate this result (or something close to it).



(P.S. In before Neo and others assume that it was educators or union folks who made the mistake, as opposed to, say, private contractors who do the testing, researchers, etc.)
 
#5
#5
It says 27% would still pass right? I fail to see how that makes it too rigorous. Not everyone deserves a trophy for simply finishing
 
#6
#6
I think they should put the bar where it needs to be, i.e. should the kids know this material? If only 26% pass, so be it. The goal should be to meet the bar.

Of course if a test is so complicated kids are just guessing (I've had a couple of those in some advanced college courses), then it does nobody any good. But in high school, it should be fairly obvious what they should know.
 
#8
#8
lawgator1 said:
I'm disturbed by this, because, somewhere along the line, someone obviously missed the fact that the new scoring would cut the pass rate by about 2/3. In one year?

Don't see how they fail to anticipate this result (or something close to it).



(P.S. In before Neo and others assume that it was educators or union folks who made the mistake, as opposed to, say, private contractors who do the testing, researchers, etc.)
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Yes they should know historical scores and what the impact of changing the passing score was. Gauging the impact of the increased rigor would be tougher.

Hate to see them chase pass rates though rather than knowledge retentionl
 
#10
#10
I can see that but things like that are being brought up all over the country. Like this one

Newport News proposes move to 10-point grading scale - dailypress.com

Newport News will continue to give weighted credit for honors, AP and IB classes based on feedback from students and parents, said Tracy Brooks, special assistant to the superintendent

Board member Betty Dixon said that many people will say that Newport News is dumbing down or lowering its standards, but that it is not.

Moving to a 10-point scale will encourage students who are close to making a better grade to work harder and make that higher grade, she said, adding that she did not know how much GPAs affected scholarships and admissions into honors program.
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a 60 is now "passing" in many HS across the country. They aren't helping anyone with this
 
#11
#11
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