FCAT Legislation

Senate Bill 1908, which became effective July 1, 2008, states that beginning with the 2008-2009 school year, district school boards must prohibit schools from suspending a regular program of curricula to administer practice tests or engage in other test-preparation activities for a statewide assessment such as FCAT. However, certain activities (including instruction on test-taking strategies) are authorized.

What are the "certain activities" that are allowed?

· Distributing to students the sample test books and answer keys published by the Department of Education

· Providing individualized instruction in test-taking strategies, content knowledge and skills assessed for a student who scores at Level 1 or Level 2 on a prior statewide assessment

· Incorporating test-taking exercises and strategies into curricula for intensive reading and mathematics intervention courses.

· Administering a practice test or engaging in other test-preparation activities which are determined necessary to familiarize students with the organization of the assessment, the format of the test items, and the test directions

Information in the second bullet refers to providing individualized instruction to students; this allowable activity is not for whole class instruction. The last bullet refers to the administration of practice tests and test-preparation activities to familiarize students with the organization of the assessment, but this cannot be done by suspending regular classroom instruction.

So what does that mean for you as a classroom teacher? With standards-based instruction, Florida schools need not suspend regular classroom instruction to prepare for a standards-based assessment such as FCAT; simply put, make the regular classroom instruction standards-based and your students will be prepared for the assessment.

For a complete look at educational legislation passed during the 2008 session, click on http://www.fldoe.org/gr/pdf/LegislativeReviewBook.pdf    or the Florida Legislature's Official Web site, at http://www.leg.state.fl.us