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Max
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Does anyone know the answer to the obvious question raised by Mr. Archer's article? How, specifically, does an consistently A rated FCAT elementary school also consistently fail NCLB? I don't understand why Mr. Archer failed to provide such important information.
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Chris
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Max wrote: Does anyone know the answer to the obvious question raised by Mr. Archer's article? How, specifically, does an consistently A rated FCAT elementary school also consistently fail NCLB? I don't understand why Mr. Archer failed to provide such important information. As I understand it, under NCLB, schools are evaluated on thirty or so variables. If the school doesn't meet the criteria on each and every variable - say it fails to meet the criterion on one variable - the school is deemed as not having met its Annnual Yearly Progress (AYP), thereby making it subject to the sanctions mentioned in the article.
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Brenda
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The variables include 5 ethnicity subgroups as well as ESOL, Students with disabilities, and economically disadvantaged. If even one of these subgroups do not meet the annual measurable objective for each grade or the show growth in reading or math, you do not meet AYP. You must also meet criteria that is different than the school grade criteria in writing to meet AYP.
I wish I felt as confident as Mr. Archer that NCLB is going away. I think we will see changes, but I am not nearly as optimistic that it is going away.
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Jordan
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I used this from another site on FCAT but it is relevant.
I have been a teacher in the public school system for 29 years. I have two masters’ degree and an educational specialist degree and a doctorate degree. In addition, I was awarded some years ago for being the top mathematics teacher for the state. I have also written a text on mathematics that has a Library of Congress Number.
There is a program in elementary schools called the TIERS Program. This is where a student must pass the FCAT in third grade in order to be promoted. This program started about four years ago. After two failures they are automatically promoted. I taught in this program for a number of years and often had students who have failed a grade previous to third grade. By the time I received them they were sometimes three grades behind in the third grade. I have had students finally pass the FCAT or have failed in twice in third grade only to be promoted to Middle School!
This year I was placed in fifth grade and was told that the district with a mandate from the state said that out of the four grading periods if I issued one passing grade, even a D and the other three grading periods were an F the child is to be promoted even if they fail the FCAT.
Apparently, the rationale being it was that there are many 13 and 14 year olds in the fifth grade. In my fifth grade class this year I have a number of students who were born in 1994 and many others born in 1993. The school I am out now is not an inner city or hard core area school that I have taught at in the past.
What was the purpose in the first place of retaining them in third grade twice of the failed to pass the FCAT only to be told to promote them pout of fifth grade no matter what the academic achievement?
This state, former governor, current president and all of the “experts” that testify before state and national representatives have no real idea of what goes on in the classroom.
Many of these college professors that do studies at universities for these politicians have never been in a classroom in their entire lives. Yet here they are dictating some hypothetical and or theoretical program and curriculum based upon “research” and the politicians run to it like honey. If these programs are so successful then why are they changing them so often and why haven’t they shown results. The Bush administration the past year asked that our high school senior’s academic performance in Math and science not be calculated in the ranking around the world and it has fallen so drastically in the last 10 years that we are on par with countries like Bolivia. Is it educational research on monetary incentives as I suspect in many cases.
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Jordan
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Also it was on Yahoo back last year that under Bush the United States in math and science had fallen from 8th to 25th in the world one step ahead of Bolivia.
The president's commission then asked to have the US seniors in high school removed this year and there will be no comparison.
No Child left behind---big joke.
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Leorna
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I saw my son learn all of this FCAT stuff and get a level 4 in reading and 4 in math yet could not even do routine things that I can do. We are just schooling for a test that brings in money for each school district.
What good does it do for a student on math to be able to tell if a figure has done a slide or flip of 180 degrees if they cannot even calculate the interest of buying something or balance their checkbook or even manage their money properly? What good does it do to be able to make an inference when one cannot even fill out a standard application without a lot of assistance?
I work at the Miami Dade College in admissions and there are people having to take remedial courses on the college level that scored level 3 or more on the FCAT. The top level is 5 and level three is supposed to be about a B on standard college work.
Look at all of the remedial courses in math and reading most all community colleges and even universities offer now. If the FCAT is so successful then why all the remedial courses at the college level?
One girl complied about having to take remedial reading as her professor suggested and brought in her scores where she was a level 4 in reading on the 11th grade FCAT.
If is working I will back it to the end but it is not as the people are having trouble in hoards with college work.
Some of the professors have said that the state is paying out over 140 million dollars to the FCAT testing company. They get college students to read and interpret the scores results of your child’s written responses on the FCAT. These people are paid about seven or eight dollars per hour and often have to grade hundreds of these essay questions in a day. Even a true professional would tire at this rate.
How much money are these testing people making paying these wages to college students. The only thing a machine grades in the bubbled in answers which account for about 30 percent of the FCAT score.
Finally, all students must take the Norm referenced test (NRT) days after the FCAT since the FCAT is not accepted by any other state and the NRT is. This was a Bush ploy to supposedly enhance education when all it did and is still doing is enhancing the bank accounts of this testing service.
The NRT is a well written test that is produced in color of fine quality paper. The FCAT is black and white and lower grade bond paper and many of the pictures for science and math are often hard for the students to tell what they are actually depicting.
Not much for the tax payer’s money at $ 140 million.
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Nate
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Two studies one by a Floirda university showed that the success rate of those being schooled for the FCAT and those for the NRT that is used all over the US is no different. In other words there is no statistical difference from being taught FCAT material and the NRT like the rest of the US when it come to high graduation rates.
Why are we paying 140 million a year for a second test in thes e hards time.
How has this contract must be politically connected.
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Bryce Wagner
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The Repugnican legislature wants to divert tax money from public education to church run schools, while at the same time cutting the public education budget. Sounds to me like they mean no Christian child left behind. As for the Jebcat, it was a misguided attempt to keep Neal Bush out of jail by giving him something to do. It would have been better if he had been an educator instead of family in need of a job.
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FCAT Fat Cat
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Nate wrote: Why are we paying 140 million a year for a second test in thes e hards time. Because the Bush family has made millions off of it.
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Vouchers
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I hope the lawsuits, regulation, diversity, and political correctness kill government schools. There is nothing magic about educating a child. Millions of parents home school their children. Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and many fine Americans were home schooled.
The only reason government is in the education business is political indoctrination. Unions are in it for the money. Between the two of them millions of children do not have the survival skills necessary to compete in our capitalistic competitive society.
Get rid of it all. Pass the vouchers.
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Glasnos
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Teachers squawk about the FCAT ... but do they remember why a FCAT became necessary? Schools were giving out diplomas to children who literally could not read them. And if many teachers were to have their way, they would go back to those non-standards and do away with tests all together.
They complain of teaching to the FCAT ... but that is only teaching to the goal of the lowest rung. FCAT is the MINIMUM a student should be educated.
As to the FCAT and NCLB disparity, it is no secret schools will list as many poor performing kids as learning disabled as possible, so they do not have to meet FCAT goals.
It is clear our public schools have failed teaching our children, and do not have a clue as to how to fix it.... It is time vouchers for every child are issued to allow parents the right to find a school who will really educate their children.
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anomonous
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I took the 10th grade FCAT this yr and i hated it. It doesn't meausure a persons' intelligence.
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Glasnos
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anomonous wrote: I took the 10th grade FCAT this yr and i hated it. It doesn't meausure a persons' intelligence. It is not meant to measure intelligence. It is meant to determine how much a student has learned.... It is a shame it has to come to this ... but schools and teachers have demonstrated they can't be trusted to teach children the minumum amount of education to function in today's society. Handing out a diploma to a child who can't read it does little good, but give a false sense of accomplishment. It is the teacher's fault we have the necessity of the FCAT.
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