{"id":1201,"date":"2010-06-29T17:03:05","date_gmt":"2010-06-29T21:03:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/?p=1201"},"modified":"2010-06-29T17:08:35","modified_gmt":"2010-06-29T21:08:35","slug":"2010-science-fcat-and-beyond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=1201","title":{"rendered":"2010 Science FCAT and beyond"},"content":{"rendered":"

The annual Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test results <\/a>are finally released. These are exams that students across the state in specific grade levels must take in core subjects. These scores can influence students\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 promotion to the next grade, and dictate what the student can or cannot take the next school year, such as remedial courses instead of electives. The scores also play a significant role in each school\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s letter grades they receive from the state every year. Chronically low performing schools can face ugly sanctions.<\/p>\n

Of special interest to us at Florida Citizens for Science are, of course, the science FCAT results. The science FCAT is given to students in grades 5, 8 and 11 every year. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s different than the other core subjects\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 tests in that whereas it counts towards schools\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 grades, it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have any effect on the students\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 futures. A failing grade on the science FCAT typically means nothing to the student, but still has value to the school administration. Another odd aspect of the science test is that its content can cover a wide range of science topics, some of which students may have taken years ago and have forgotten by the time the test rolls around. How much from a 9th grade Earth\/space course will a student remember for an 11th grade exam? A new law passed during the state legislature\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 2010 session will change some of these quirks, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll get to that later. Right now let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s take a look at the latest scores.<\/p>\n

FCAT results are broken down into five levels. Those students whose scores place them in levels one or two haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fully learned the required material and struggled with even the basic material. Level three is middle of the road with students having general success with the material, but not doing well on the more challenging questions. Levels four and five are where kids who really know their stuff fall.<\/p>\n

The first result we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll look at in this year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s scores is the percentage of students who got a Level three or above. This year is little different than years past, unfortunately. All three grade levels \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 5, 8 and 11 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t muster even half of the students to at least a Level three. Grade 5 is the most promising, though, with 49 percent making it. That is up from 46 percent last year. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the lone bright spot in all of the scores, but even that still points to a sad state of affairs. A little more than half of 5th graders aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t up to par on their science knowledge.<\/p>\n

The 8th graders are improving, but at a slower annual pace than the 5th graders. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re at 43 percent achieving Level three or higher, up from 41 percent the previous year. And then we get to the 11th graders, where the ugliest bad news resides. Only 38 percent were at Level three or above. That percentage has been essentially stagnant for the past four years! The figures each year are: 2007 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 37 percent; 2008 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 38 percent; 2009 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 37 percent. Keep in mind that this means a whopping 62 percent are not even at a basic level of science understanding!<\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tough to say what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s happening to science in high school. Keep in mind the factors I outlined above \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the scores don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t count against the students, and the students are tested on a wide range of material from the past few years. Tracking high school students\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 overall science knowledge will be moot, though, in the next few years. There are changes in how they are going to be assessed in the works.<\/p>\n

First of all, 5th and 8th graders will still be faced with annual science FCATs. A new version of the test, called FCAT 2.0 will be phased in with some field testing in 2011 and then full implementation in 2012. The new FCAT will be aligned to the new state science standards that were adopted in 2008.<\/p>\n

There is only one more science FCAT in store for 11th graders. After 2011 the high school science FCAT will be eliminated, replaced with end of course exams. Or rather, one end of course exam in Biology. In accordance with a new law, high school students in future years will be required to attain three science credits to graduate: Biology I, chemistry or physics, and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153an equally rigorous course\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. However, Biology is the only class that will require an end of course exam for credit. There is the possibility that the other science courses will have mandatory end of course exams for credit, but don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t hold your breath. Also, as an explainer here: currently, some subjects may have end of course exams administered by the teacher, and the score for that figures into the final grade. But the end of course exam for biology will eventually be a test the students must pass to get credit for the class, regardless of the students\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 other grades in that class.<\/p>\n

Here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the tentative plan for the various requirements to be phased in:
\n2010 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 2011 school year: last year of the 11th grade science FCAT.
\n2011 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 2012 school year: Students will start taking Biology end of course exams, but they will only count for 30% of the class grade.
\n2012 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 2013 school year: The Biology end of course exam must be passed to earn credit.
\n2013 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 2014 school year: Students entering high school need to plan on taking Biology, Chemistry or Physics, and an equally rigorous course in the coming years.
\n2014 -2015 school year: To get a standard diploma, students must have earned a Biology credit that included the end of course exam. The 30% percent of the class grade end of course exam will count for this year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s graduates.
\n2015 -2016 school year: To get a standard diploma, students must have earned a Biology credit that included the must-pass end of course exam.
\n2016 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 2017 school year: To get a standard diploma, students must have earned credits in Biology, Chemistry or Physics, and an equally rigorous course.<\/p>\n

Keep in mind this schedule is tentative! It will be interesting to see how this all works out in the coming years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The annual Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test results are finally released. These are exams that students across the state in specific grade levels must take in core subjects. These scores can influence students\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 promotion to the next grade, and dictate what … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcZNLl-jn","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":213,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=213","url_meta":{"origin":1201,"position":0},"title":"2007 science FCAT scores","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"May 23, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Florida\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s science FCAT scores were released today. For those who don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know, the FCAT is the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test given annually to all Florida public school children in grades 3 through 11. The FCAT is supposed to measure what students have learned about reading, writing, mathematics and science. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Alert"","block_context":{"text":"Alert","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=6"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":605,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=605","url_meta":{"origin":1201,"position":1},"title":"2008 science FCAT scores","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"June 10, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Florida\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s science FCAT scores were released today. For those who don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know, the FCAT is the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test given annually to all Florida public school children in grades 3 through 11. The FCAT is supposed to measure what students have learned about reading, writing, mathematics and science. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "FCAT"","block_context":{"text":"FCAT","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=22"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1345,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=1345","url_meta":{"origin":1201,"position":2},"title":"Science FCAT 2011","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"June 6, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Results for Florida\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s annual science exams taken by 3rd, 8th, and 11th graders were released today. The good news? Scores overall improved since last year. The bad news? The rise in scores is small, and 50 percent of our state\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s students aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t proficient in science. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m tired of being a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "FCAT"","block_context":{"text":"FCAT","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=22"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":137,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=137","url_meta":{"origin":1201,"position":3},"title":"Science on the FCAT; More Fs?","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"January 16, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Changes to this year's FCATs, including the importance of the science tests, are prompting dire school grade predictions. There could be a record number of failing schools in Duval County and around Florida this year unless local school districts find a way to improve student achievement in two categories being\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "In the Classroom"","block_context":{"text":"In the Classroom","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":871,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=871","url_meta":{"origin":1201,"position":4},"title":"Lawmaker wants to dump 11th grade science FCAT","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"January 20, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Today, House Bill 543, \"Educational Assessment\", was filed by Representative Debbie Mayfield (R). The bill text indicates that Mayfield would like to see a major change to the science FCAT. Notwithstanding s. 1008.22, Florida Statutes, or any other provision of the law to the contrary, the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "FCAT"","block_context":{"text":"FCAT","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=22"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":413,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=413","url_meta":{"origin":1201,"position":5},"title":"Dropping the curriculum for FCAT","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"January 30, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"And now for some non-evolution science education news ... the FCAT is so dang important that regular science curriculum is being dropped in some schools in order to do an intense FCAT prep. (The FCAT is the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. It's a high stakes test that determines if kids\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "In the Classroom"","block_context":{"text":"In the Classroom","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1201"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1201"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1201\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}