TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Students across Florida could be impacted by two big decisions expected to be made by the state Board of Education Wednesday.
At issue are the passing score standards for the Florida Standards Assessments and school grades.
Board of Education member John Padget is pushing for tougher standards that could result in more students failing the FSA and declining school grades.
PDF: Public comment on FSA testing
Parents and students are concerned about the ramifications of the board’s decisions.
“The students get stressed out,” parent Lepsy Wright said. “They have problems, they don’t want to go back to school because they’re scare they’re going to fail.”
Fund Education Now spokeswoman Kathleen Oropeza felt the test, in general, was not a good gauge of student achievement.
“I think that nothing about any of these grades is real,” she said. “I don’t think schools, teachers or students should be judged by them.”
The goal of the tougher standards is to bring Florida more in line with standards set by other states, Padget said.
“I believe our cut scores should be -- they don’t have to be equal -- but they should be comparable with other states,” he said.
The proposal would help prepare students for the work force, Padget said.
Florida Department of Education Commissioner Pam Stewart made a proposal with standards less stringent than Padget’s plan.
Of about 40 written comments sent to the Department of Education, about a third support Padget’s plan, a third Stewart’s plan, and about a third want to see standards lower than they currently are.
WFTV
