Reading Kicks Off FCATs Today
By The Bradenton Herald, Fla.
Feb. 27–MANATEE — Good sleep = better scores
Sleep expert Dr. Peter Fort, of Premier Sleep Disorder Centers, said children should get between 10 and 11 hours sleep each night before taking an exam — and teens should get between 9 and 10 hours.
“You can’t really catch up in one night,” Fort said. “It would be better to get 9 to 10 hours the two weeks prior.”
Fort also said it is better for students to get to bed earlier rather than later and that parents should be getting about 8½ hours of sleep each night.
A good sign that children are not getting enough sleep would be if an alarm clock or someone needs to wake them up in the morning, Fort said. He also said parents should look out for their kids “sleeping in” on the weekends.
“That means they are not getting enough sleep,” he said, adding that children should wake up “spontaneously” early in the mornings.
– Erica Rodriguez
Students are scheduled to begin taking the FCAT reading tests today. Testing will continue through next week with exams designed to measure students’ skills and assess their schools.
Each school will determine what time it will administer tests, but schools are expected to start first thing in the morning, according to Carla Frazier, supervisor of measurement and data analysis for Manatee County schools.
Frazier said regular classes will proceed as normal for the remainder of each day once the tests are completed.
Test dates include:
— Today: Third, fourth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th grades take reading. Fifth grade takes math.
— Tuesday: Third, fourth and sixth grades take reading. Fifth through 10th grades take math.
— Wednesday: Fifth grade takes reading. Third and fourth grades take math. Students in other grades may take make-up exams.
— Thursday and Friday: Make-ups for other grade levels.
— Monday, March 6: Fifth, eighth and 11th grades take science. Ninth and 10th take reading. Make-ups for other grade levels.
— Tuesday, March 7: Fifth grade takes science. Make-ups for other grade levels.
— Wednesday, March 8: Third through eighth grades take reading. Make-ups for other grade levels.
— Thursday, March 9: Third through fifth grades take math. Make-ups for other grade levels.
— Friday, March 10: Make-ups.
Students took the writing subtest Feb. 7-8.
What is the FCAT?
The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, or FCAT, is given to Florida students to measure skills in reading, writing, math and science.
The test is part of a statewide effort to improve student achievement and measure content under the guidelines of the Sunshine State Standards.
What are the Sunshine State Standards?
They are broad statements adopted by the State Board of Education in 1996 that describe what a child should know and be able to do at every grade level.
These standards cover seven content areas: social studies, science, language arts, health and physical education, the arts, foreign language and math.
The standards are divided into smaller units called “benchmarks,” which outline the specific content, knowledge and skills that students are expected to learn.
Each student’s performance on the FCAT tests is supposed to indicate his or her progress in reaching the benchmarks.
What kind of test is the FCAT?
It is made up of two kinds of tests:
— A criterion-referenced test, or CRT, which measures how well students are meeting the Sunshine State Standards in reading, writing, math and science.
— A norm-referenced test, or NRT, which allows educators and parents to compare Florida student performance on reading and math with students nationwide.
What is the big deal about the FCAT?
The test results are used at the state and national levels to evaluate schools.
Each public school in Florida receives a letter grade — A, B, C, D or F — based on the performance of its students on the FCAT.
If a school gets an A or improves its letter grade from one year to the next, it gets a bonus of $100 per student from the state. But if a school consistently gets poor grades, district officials step in with measures to improve.
School districts also consider FCAT results when making decisions about whether a student will pass or fail a grade. Students must earn passing scores on the reading and math portions of the 10th-grade FCAT in order to graduate from high school.
Also, a school’s letter grade could determine how a school fares under the No Child Left Behind Act, a national school accountability program.
How was the FCAT developed?
The Florida Department of Education began work on FCAT development in May 1996 and was assisted by classroom teachers, curriculum specialists, administrators and citizens from across Florida.
Through a contract with a test-publishing company, the Florida Department of Education developed FCAT Reading and Math. The test was first administered to students in grades 4, 5, 8, and 10 in 1998.
The FCAT was expanded to include all grades 3 through 10 in 2001 and to include FCAT Science in 2003.
The formal writing test for Grades 4, 8, and 10 was initiated in 1992. The assessment was called the Florida Writing Assessment Program, but it is now called FCAT Writing.
Does the FCAT change?
Each year, test writers prepare drafts of new FCAT questions according to specifications by the Florida Department of Education.
Committees of state education staffers, Florida teachers and curriculum supervisors review and revise each test item. Community representatives then review the items for bias and issues of concern to their communities.
– Information compiled by Erica Rodriguez from the Manatee County School Board FCAT calendar and the Florida Department of Education Web site.
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Copyright (c) 2006, The Bradenton Herald, Fla.
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