Leon County Schools has made
the decision to continue to suspend all online FSA testing.
It is evident that the
technical issues that occurred yesterday with the online test are occurring
again today throughout the state.
“We want the best possible
testing environment for our students and that will not occur if there is any
doubt that students will be able to sign on and complete their tests,” said
Superintendent of Schools Jackie Pons. “The tenth grade test is directly
tied to a graduation requirement. Based on my nine years of experiences as
superintendent, we cannot afford to allow our students to go in to take a test
with such high stakes and not have all the issues resolved.”
Computer based testing did
not occur in Leon County yesterday or today. LCS will continue to administer
paper based tests as scheduled.
LCS has requested make-up
days from the Department of Education.
Superintendent Pons also penned an opinion letter to be sent to media outlets:
My View
Jackie Pons
Superintendent of Leon County Schools
Let’s take a time-out on testing
When products are rushed to market without proper testing, bad things often follow. That’s what has happened this week in numerous school districts across Florida that began online testing for the new Florida Standards Assessment (FSA).
Several months ago school superintendents predicted problems, but state education officials politely ignored them. I took a cautious approach and delayed online testing for eighth-, ninth- and 10th-graders until Tuesday. When it became clear Monday that so many districts across the state were having serious problems, I suspended online testing indefinitely – until I’m confident that these problems are solved.
Although we were assured that efforts overnight resulted in improved system performance, this still meant that students would be guinea pigs in a high-stakes roll of the dice. Other districts that went ahead with testing Tuesday said technological problems persisted.
Besides the resulting disruption for teachers and students, there is also a question of fairness. Students who started the test but couldn’t complete it may now have an unfair advantage, being at least somewhat familiar with questions or prompts.
Unfortunately, this is only the latest chapter in the book about over-reliance on high-stakes standardized testing. With the legislative session under way this week, it’s time for our political leaders to acknowledge that they have failed to appropriately vet the assorted school improvement and accountability policies and practices that are part of today’s public school landscape.
Sen. Bill Montford of Tallahassee is trying to fix the problem. His bill, SB 774, would: require the English and math online tests to be certified as ready before being implemented; prohibit the use of the tests for promotion or retention; and eliminate the English portion as a graduation requirement. Further, the bill would provide a “nonelectronic option” in some cases, and would have the almost certain effect of reducing the excessive reliance on testing.
How excessive? In Leon County, 34 of 44 days during the fourth grading period this school year are dedicated testing days, 10 more than in past years. That isn’t our choice; it’s the best way we’ve determined to comply with requirements.
Last November, our School Board joined several other school boards in Florida, passing a resolution that respectfully objected to the climate of over-testing and asking for a time-out. Our board members and I are committed to school improvement and accountability. But mandated testing has become far too focal to public education at the expense of such high-quality programs as the fine arts.
Because of so much testing, we have been forced to adjust our local assessments. This means we are developing less district-level data on student performance than before. Florida had the opportunity to phase in a new testing regimen over a period of, say, three years. This would have given the state and school districts ample time to field-test, make needed changes and rebuild public confidence.
It didn’t happen. Instead, the test questions used to develop the Florida assessments came from Utah, a vastly different state demographically. Now these tests are used not only to assess student performance, but also teacher effectiveness and school grades.
Florida’s new testing regimen encourages fear and cynicism. This week’s technological issues only fuel that fire, and they’re not the full extent of the problem.
It’s time for a time-out.
Jackie Pons is superintendent of schools in Leon County. Contact him at ponsj@leonschools.net