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Editorial: An absurd testing calendar

 
Florida’s students spend too much time taking standardized tests. President Barack Obama has acknowledged the federal government overzealously promoted them, saying that the tests have a role but should be limited to 2 percent of classroom time. “Learning is about so much more than just filling in the right bubble,” the president said. Are Florida politicians listening?
Florida’s students spend too much time taking standardized tests. President Barack Obama has acknowledged the federal government overzealously promoted them, saying that the tests have a role but should be limited to 2 percent of classroom time. “Learning is about so much more than just filling in the right bubble,” the president said. Are Florida politicians listening?
Published Oct. 28, 2015

Florida's students spend too much time taking standardized tests. President Barack Obama has acknowledged the federal government overzealously promoted them, saying that the tests have a role but should be limited to 2 percent of classroom time. "Learning is about so much more than just filling in the right bubble," the president said.

Are Florida politicians listening?

The Council of the Great City Schools comprises more than 60 of the nation's largest school districts — Hillsborough County is a member — and has inventoried how many tests are given. One of the key findings of its newly released report: "There is no correlation between the amount of mandated testing time and the reading and math scores in grades four and eight on the National Assessment of Educational Progress," which is often called the nation's report card.

Overtesting steals classroom instruction time not just from the students taking exams, but with schoolwide disruptions such as closing down libraries for testing that affect students who aren't filling in bubbles on a given day. Dedicating too much time to standardized tests — and teaching to those tests and stressing about those tests — is wrong on so many levels.

Just how many standardized tests are being given? The Great City Schools study published a table of Hillsborough's 2014-15 calendar of tests, nearly all of which were administered under state law or rule. Here is the dismal, exhaustive month-by-month accounting.

AUGUST TESTS: Kindergarten readiness screening (FLKRS) • 11- and 12-grade Postsecondary Educational Readiness Test (PERT) • Third- through fifth-grade Math Formative/Diagnostic Test 1 • Kindergarten Readiness Test • Sixth- through eighth-grade Writing Formative/Diagnostic Test • Fifth-grade Science Formative/Diagnostic Test • Sixth- through eighth-grade Science Formative/Diagnostic Test • Ninth- through 11th-grade Writing Formative/Diagnostic Test

SEPTEMBER TESTS: Second- and fifth-grade FitnessGram • K- through 10th-grade Florida Assessment for Instruction in Reading (FAIR) • Fall administration of End of Course (EOC) exam in U.S. history, biology, algebra I, geometry • Seven- through 12th-grade Fall Pretests — Credit-Earning Courses • ACT, optional

OCTOBER TESTS: 10th- through 12th-grade (retained) FCAT 2.0 reading and math retakes • Sixth- through eighth-grade Math Formative/Diagnostic Test • High School Math Benchmark Formative/Diagnostic Test A • Seventh grade ReadiStep • Ninth- through 11th-grade PSAT • Second- through fifth-grade ELA Interim Assessment • ACT, optional • SAT, optional

NOVEMBER TESTS: Sixth- through eighth-grade Writing Formative/Diagnostic Test • Third- through fifth-grade Math Formative/Diagnostic Test 2 • Social Studies Formative/Diagnostic Test — U.S. history (regular and honors) • SAT, optional

DECEMBER TESTS: Fifth- and eighth-grade Science Formative/Diagnostic Test • Ninth- through 11th-grade Writing Formative/Diagnostic Test • Personal Fitness Exam, select students • Winter Administration of EOC — U.S. history, biology, algebra I, geometry • Florida Standards Assessment (FSA) English Language Arts Writing Component Field Test, select students • K- through 10th-grade Florida Assessment for Instruction in Reading • Sixth- through eighth-grade FitnessGram • ACT, optional • SAT, optional

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JANUARY TESTS: Second- through fifth-grade ELA Interim Assessment • Sixth- through 12th-grade midyear and semester exams • Fourth- and eighth-grade NAEP/TUDA — sample, selected sites

FEBRUARY TESTS: Third- through fifth-grade Math Formative/Diagnostic Test 3 • Seventh- through 12th-grade Spring Pretests — Credit-Earning Courses • Third- through 11th-grade Florida Alternate Assessment • 11th grade SAT • ACT, optional

MARCH TESTS: Fourth- through 11th-grade Florida Standards Assessment (FSA) • K through 12th-grade Comprehensive English Language Learner Assessment (CELLA) for English language learners • Science Formative/Diagnostic Tests — Biology • Social Studies Formative/Diagnostic Test — U.S. History (regular and honors) • First- and second-grade Stanford 10 • Sixth- through eighth-grade Math Formative/Diagnostic Test B • 10th- through 12th-grade FCAT 2.0 reading and math retakes and retained • Third- and fourth-grade Florida Standards Assessment (FSA) — ELA/Math, paper-based • Tenth-grade Algebra EOC retakes • SAT, optional

APRIL TESTS: K- through eighth-grade Florida Assessment for Instruction in Reading • Fifth- through eighth-grade (fifth- through 11th-grade ELA) Florida Standards Assessment (FSA) math • Fifth- and eighth-grade FCAT 2.0 Science • Third-grade Stanford 10, abbreviated • Biology EOC (FSA) • Algebra II EOC (FSA) • ACT, optional

MAY TESTS: Geometry EOC (FSA) • Kindergarten Readiness Test Post-test • Second grade and fifth- through eighth-grade FitnessGram Post-test • Algebra I EOC (FSA) • First- through fifth-grade art, music, PE, dance district assessment • 11th- and 12th-grade International Baccalaureate testing • Personal Fitness Exam, select students • Ninth- through 12th-grade Advanced Placement (AP) exams • Biology EOC (FSA) • Kindergarten end-of-year math • K- through fourth-grade end-of-year science • Seventh-grade Civics EOC (NGSSS) • Ninth- through 12th-grade U.S. History EOC (NGSSS) • Sixth- through 12th-grade end-of-year and semester exams

JUNE TESTS: ACT, optional • SAT, optional