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Blog: FCAR
Speakout
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[Another Florida teacher gives us an inside look at the negative effects of
FCAT on curriculum.]
I spent 4 years teaching in the Northeast before moving south. I am currently
in my 3rd year in Florida and am appalled at the focus on FCAT as the ONLY
measure of success in the classroom. My administrative team has made it clear
that English classes are their main focus as this is where our school is failing
(ie. not receiving the A+ $$$$). Over the summer last year, several teachers
volunteered to create yearly instructional calendar for the entire department.
Several of these teachers felt that this "volunteering" was the one of several
means with which they could save their jobs. Others on this committee are
working towards administration themselves. Anyway, this calendar gave a day by
day chronology of FCAT concepts to be taught. Those of us who did not volunteer
were given the calendar on the first day back to work. We were told that this
was one of several "non-negotiables" ,which also included word walls, literary
quotes, and classroom libraries, being mandated by our administration.
As I am in the last year of my provisional contract, I have agreed to the all
"FCAT" curriculum. Next year, as I will gain my "professional" status and
tenure, I will revert to teaching the actual content and curriculum mandated by
the state of Florida in the Sunshine State Standards. As of this point in the
school year, it has become abundantly clear to me that I have sold my soul as I
have in effect gone against everything I morally believe in educationally. I
have seen my students become absolutely numbed by the absolute non- relenting
focus on test preparation. Statistically, I can currently report that 70% of my
students in standard level English II are struggling with D's and F's as the 3rd
quarter draws to a close. At no other point in the year has this been true. It
has occurred as the FCAT focus has become more rigorous and intense. English
class is no longer English class. It has become FCAT preparation. Literature has
been forbidden by administration. It has been made clear to several of my
colleagues that teaching literature will be looked down upon in year-end
evaluations and may lead to a non-rehire for next year. In my last employee
evaluation, I was told how effective my teaching is because I did not waste time
on literature and instead focused on FCAT. I actually had to bite my tongue as
my supervising administrator was an English teacher less than 4 years ago.
In my English class, we have read a total of two short stories this year. This
occurred back in September when I was teaching the FCAT concepts of plot,
conflict, and characterization. Since that time I have used two resources from
which to teach, Ten Steps to Improving College Reading Skills: Reading Level:
8-12 (4th ed) by John Langan (purchased by our administration and given to each
English teacher to use in instruction) and a FCAT practice workbook. We have not
and will not read a single novel in my class this year. Please remember, this is
not my choice as an educator, but what I felt was necessary to retain my
employment as dictated by my superiors. I also realize that this is being
dictated to them by their supervisors in our county. Nothing counts but the
scores.
We began this year in an inservice/workshop and the introductions were put forth
by our assistant superintendent. To paraphrase, we were told that our teachers
on the elementary and middle levels were succeeding in teaching reading as shown
in impressive test scores. But ultimately, our high school teachers are failing
our students because we are failing to teach reading. Shakespeare is not
important, there is no need for a high school student to read such nonsense.
High school test scores are down because secondary teachers are not working
effectively. The sole focus should be on reading passages that mirror the FCAT
(nonfiction passages between 1300-1700 words). Again, I bit my tongue.....much,
much harder this time.
I have ultimately reached my breaking point. I have just begun to become
actively involved in union activities. Being a "northerner" I cannot believe the
ineffectiveness of southern unions and have chosen to focus my efforts there and
by any other means possible to fight against anything that threatens my core
beliefs about education. I did not get into the teaching profession to teach a
single test. I believe that real education produces life-long learners who are
well- rounded in their education. Standardized testing is destroying education.
My students have not learned a single life-lesson in my class this year. Some
students may have improved reading skills slightly, but what was the ultimate
cost?
And to close, I am completely convinced that through all of the painstaking
efforts and struggles of this year, my scores will not be any better than last
year's. They may be even worse because the longer we worked on test preparation
activities, the less students became engaged and involved. As negative and
pessimistic as this may sound, I believe that my high school will be the first
"D" school in our county. And although we may rank #1 in AP test success and
recently took home the most prizes at the local science fair, our academic
success will only be measured by FCAT scores. And with this year being the first
that needs 50% of the lowest quartile to show adequate yearly progress (or be
penalized with a loss of one letter grade off the school score), we will almost
surely be a "D" school.
I am almost physically sick because of all of this.
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