Blog: FCAR Speakout

Happy Birthday, FCAR

Gloria Pipkin's review of FCAR's first four years: July  18, 2000 -- July 18, 2004.

Brochures

Florida Coalition for Assessment Reform (FCAR). What is FCAR? FCAR history, goals, projects and services, contacts, officers, membership form. Available in MS Publisher_® or PDF formats.

What’s Wrong with High Stakes Testing in General and the FCAT in Particular? Are you curious about why so many people are disturbed by high stakes testing? Or do you know why, but need a concise, point-by-point brochure that will help explain your point of view? This brochure is available in MS Publisher_® or PDF formats.

Flyers

Children's Rights to Learn (one page PDF)

October 8, 2005 FCAR Conference: High Hopes, Not High Stakes: Changing the Impact of FCAT (one page PDF)

A Teacher's Story: How FCAT Cannibalizes the Curriculum and Handicaps Good Teaching (One page PDF)

Mandatory Retention: Not Good Enough for Our Kids (One page PDF)

Truth in Testing: Parents' Right to Know (One page PDF)

Editorial responses to parent access to graded FCATs.  See what editorial boards across the state have to say about FCAR's Truth in Testing: Parents' Right to Know bill.  [Sb 1592 was approved by the Florida Senate by a vote of 40 - 0 on April 27th, 2004.  Its companion bill (hb 703) never made it to the floor of the House, thereby killing the bill.] [Also available in MS Word_®]

Truth in Testing Legislative Brief.  The basic arguments for parent access to graded FCATs (one-page PDF).  Print off a copy and send or hand to your legislator.

How to Talk so a Legislator Will Listen.  Before you speak to your legislator about Truth in Testing or other issues, read this valuable advice from Karen Heriot.

[Also available in MS Word_®]

Related Issues

Florida’s Current Standardized Testing Regimen and the Gifted
By Diane Hanfmann, Palm Beach Gardens

Available in Word^® or PDF versions.
 

"What Every Parent, Teacher, and Community Member Needs to Know About No Child Left Behind" by Elizabeth Jaeger, a California teacher, is available online (thanks to the Oakland Education Association).

You may also order multiple hard copies from Susan Ohanian, available for the cost of printing. Email her at susano@gmavt.com for details.

Bill of Rights for Test Takers: A Family and Student Testing Protection Act

By Harold Berlak

FCAT-based Grade-3 Retention Legislature Analysis Flawed
By Robert R. Lange, Ph.D., January 11, 2007
Dr. Robert Lange, retired professor of educational measurement from Lake Mary, recently completed an analysis of the report on third grade retention policy issued late in 2006 by the Florida Legislature's Office of Program Policy Analysis & Government Accountability.

FCAT Abuse: The Real Jeb Bush Legacy to Florida and Its Schools
By Robert R. Lange, November 13, 2006
FCAR member and retired professor of educational measurement Bob Lange responds to Jeb Bush's chest-beating account of his education "legacy."

State Education Data Indicate Florida’s FCAT Based Grade Retention Policy Is A Failure
By Robert R. Lange, September 20, 2006
FCAR activist and retired professor Bob Lange has released a new statement in response to a recent study of FCAT data by the Manhattan Institute.

Why Increased FCAT Scores Can Mean Less Learning

By Robert R. Lange, Ph.D.
Retired Prof. of Educational Research and Measurement, University of Central Florida
 

Paid Cheerleaders

Commentary by retired professor of Educational Research, Data Analysis, and Measurement Dr. Robert Lange, on the Hoover Institution's analysis of the effects of Florida's so-called A+ plan.

The Florida Counseling Association's legislative platform for 2006 calls for serious reexamination of mandatory grade retention based on FCAT scores.

The Truth About Grade Level Retention and Social Promotion: How State and National Policies Are Destroying the Future of American Youth

Robert R. Lange, Ph.D.

College of Education

University of Central Florida

[Also available in MS Word^®]

Orange County Counseling Association-Orange County, Florida

Position Statement

School Counselors oppose the Florida State Law requiring mandatory, multiple year grade retentions.

Student Progression Plans – What Every Parent Should Know

Most parents in Florida are all too aware of the perils the FCAT presents to children in third grade, where students in public schools face mandatory retention if they don’t score at or above Level 2 on FCAT reading.  Seniors, too, are at risk of being denied standard diplomas if their FCAT scores in math and reading don’t reach the magic mark, regardless of their GPA or class ranking.

But how many parents know that in addition to state requirements, many districts  have added their own standards for promotion at other grade levels?

AYP Status

Courtesy of NEA, we have posted the 2004 AYP status of schools in each state.
 

[Also available in MS Word^® and PDF formats for download]
 

Emerging Trends Under the No Child Left Behind Law's Standardized Testing System
The NEA has issued an analysis of key findings from a comparison of "adequate yearly progress" (AYP) results this year and last year and independent analyses of what will occur in the future.

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Last modified: 06/15/08