Eff The Cat

Lawmakers in Tallahassee must have enjoyed taking tons of high-stakes standardized tests when they were growing up. Or - perhaps more likely - those lawmakers truly enjoy inflicting child abuse on today’s youths when it comes to the volume and intensity of those high-stakes tests.

How else can one explain the mass stress levels elementary, middle and high school students will be dealing with starting later this month when the Florida Standards Assessment (FSA) testing begins?

The FSA, which arose from the ashes of the much-hated and much-maligned Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) several years ago, is no better at doing true assessment of our students. It continues to be a money pit with no known bottom, where millions of dollars are wasted annually in the quest to try and validate whether students are learning enough and educators are teaching effectively.

I've written about this before, and we will continue to howl at the moon until the powers that be in our state capitol change the process and stop the madness.

Case in point: this year, fourth-graders at public schools across the state will be asked to spend two hours in a controlled setting writing what amounts to an advanced-level 2,000-word essay. Each of the multiple body paragraphs (between two and four) need to be between seven and nine sentences, incorporating a main idea, an elaboration on why this contention is important, a specific quote from the accompanying text for support, and an explanation on why or how this supports the initial idea. Plus there’s the need for a strong introduction with an attention-getting device, as well as a strong conclusion where the student elaborates on what has been written already.

I are willing to bet there are a ton of parents who were given a glimpse of the writing structure and are stressing out as much as their children. In high school debate, this style is known as “CWDI” - claim, warrant, data, impact - and is used by nationally-ranked debaters with years of experience in the event.

And this is what is now expected of fourth graders.

Enough! Standardized tests should be a baseline, not something which freaks out children and parents alike. Do students understand the material they should understand by a certain grade level? Great! If not, let’s go back to the drawing board and teach them what they need to learn and figure out why they didn’t perform as expected. Students and learning should be the focus of every test given. I wish our lawmakers would figure this out already.