By James Grossman
In the state of Florida, all students in the third grade up to the tenth grade must take the Florida Standards Assessment (FSA), which tests students in writing, reading, and mathematics. These exams can be quite lengthy, as their sessions range in time from 60 to 120 minutes. These exams are quite important to Florida schools, as passing the tenth grade English FSA exam is a requirement to receive a diploma. However, on Sep. 14, Florida governor Ron DeSantis announced a legislative proposal to replace FSA testing with “progress monitoring.”
According to Governor DeSantis, there are several flaws in FSA testing. One flaw he pointed out is that FSA testing takes place too late. FSA exams are typically not taken until April and May. For the 2021 ELA FSA testing, scores were not released until Jul. 29, a long time after the school year ends. This prevents teachers from using the data to address their students’ weaknesses.
“Florida’s education focus should be students’ growth and how we restore the conversation between parents and teachers in support of students’ growth,” said Governor DeSantis. “In this final step to eradicate Common Core from our assessments, our administration is implementing the lessons learned from progress monitoring, both during the state’s recovery and from our districts and schools that were already showing how we can better support students reaching their own unique growth goals.”
To replace the FSA, Governor DeSantis is pushing to create the new Florida’s Assessment of Student Thinking (F.A.S.T.). According to the Florida Department of Education, the goal of F.A.S.T. is to focus on timely results for students, parents, and educators to help improve learning. The Florida Department of Education also claims that F.A.S.T. will reduce testing time by 75 percent and will minimize the stress of testing. The F.A.S.T. involves three tests in the Fall, Winter, and Spring that are much shorter than the FSA, in addition to providing result data in a timelier manner.
Several sophomores at PVHS are critical of FSA testing. Sophomore, Jasraj Kaeley believes teachers put too much stress on students for FSA testing. “Teachers put too much stress on it…Then there’s also stuff on it you can never remember, so you’ll just get those questions wrong. The benefits of F.A.S.T. are that there’s more tests where you can remember it all, which will make it more useful and efficient.”
Sophomore, Khaled Bouaziz believes the FSA does not accurately reflect student growth. “The FSA is time consuming, inefficient, and doesn’t accurately reflect the performance and growth of students. Students spend many hours over the course of many days just to get results that do not match the level of skill and ability these students have.”
ELA teachers at PVHS also have problems with the FSA. Ms. Molly Collett, a sophomore and senior English teacher at PVHS, stated, “I think the transition to progress monitoring is a great idea. I think it’s unfair to students to base their progress on one test…I see a lot of students struggle with the FSA. Not only is it the ability, but the anxiety surrounding the test. Students should be judged by growth, not achievement.”
Ms. Collett believes that the new F.A.S.T. will alleviate several issues students have with the FSA. “I think there will be less stress on students, rather than having one giant test that determines if they graduate…Scores usually go up with less stress.”
Ms. Collett does not like the FSA as a test in general. “I see a lot of growth in FSA testing, but it challenges many students with disabilities who can’t complete a test like this in an hour and a half. It forces lower students to conform to a test that determines if they graduate or not, which is why I vehemently oppose the FSA.”
Jeannine O’Brian, an assistant principal at PVHS, stated, “Progress monitoring is a research platform the state is using to get real time data from students to understand which standards students are struggling with and which standards students are excelling in.”
“For me, it’s about what the state is doing to gather data. I support progress monitoring as it will provide real time data to aide students and educators…I see it as a win in the students’ eyes. I think we’ll have to wait and see what happens with scores, but giving students less time in standardized testing and more time in classes can only be a benefit, and it will facilitate more direct instruction.”
Ms. Obrien
Compared to large blocks of time without any results, Ms. O’Brian was quite happy with the state’s plan to provide data in a faster manner. “For me, it’s about what the state is doing to gather data. I support progress monitoring as it will provide real time data to aide students and educators…I see it as a win in the students’ eyes. I think we’ll have to wait and see what happens with scores, but giving students less time in standardized testing and more time in classes can only be a benefit, and it will facilitate more direct instruction.”
Ms. O’Brian also believes there are other benefits. “It is also beneficial for students with disabilities, as this will make the whole process simpler. I’ve done both standardized testing and progress monitoring as a teacher. I taught intensive ELA and know what it was like to prepare students for the FSA. Overall, I’m looking forward to these new changes,” Ms. O’Brian said.
Standardized testing can be stressful to both students and instructors. FSA testing requires extensive preparation, careful proctoring, and can take up weeks of scheduling for all students to complete the exam. Because of this, FSA testing can impact teacher’s plans, and may force them to stop teaching entirely for several days to account for students missing class to take exams. With the F.A.S.T., testing time will be reduced by over 75 percent, and testing results can be released in time for teachers to address student shortcomings. With improvements to state testing, everyone involved will benefit.
