The Florida Department of Education states: "The primary purpose of the FCAT is to assess student achievement of the high-order cognitive skills represented in the Sunshine State Standards (SSS) in Reading, Writing, and Mathematics. The SSS portion of FCAT is a criterion-referenced test. A secondary purpose is to compare the performance of Florida students to the performance of students across the nation using a norm-referenced test."
The FCAT test is used in school accountability through the A+ Plan. In order for a school to gain and maintain a grade of “A” the following must occur:
- Goal: 410 points or more (95% tested i.e. attendance level) (This includes all groups in the tested population - ESE, LEP, Title 1).
- 65% performing at level 3 or higher in reading.
- 65% performing at level 3 or higher in math.
- 80% performing at (3.5 + 3.0)/2 in writing.
- 75% make gain in reading (there are three ways to determine gain and they are described in the Department of Education information in The FCAT Briefing Book).
- 75% make gain in mathematics (there are three ways to determine gain and they are described in the Department of Education information in The FCAT Briefing Book).
- Move 50% of the lower 25th percentile to the next achievement level in reading or increase their annual learning gains to adequate progress.
In preparing students for high stakes testing the most important thing to do is teach effectively. If the test is testing a higher level of complexity than what is being taught, the teaching is not going to prepare a student for the test. Good test preparation is good teaching!
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A complete description of the FCAT test is contained in a document
entitled The FCAT Briefing
Book The FCAT Test Item and Performance Task Specifications describe the test items and performance tasks found in the FCAT assessments. The specifications are a source of information about FCAT for educators and the general public. Three separate documents provide the Reading/Mathematics Test Item and Performance Task Specifications for grades 3-5, 6-8 and 9-10. |
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The Florida DOE has developed an exciting preparation program for students in the 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th and 10th grades. It's called the FCAT Explorer, and it's free!!! Students can use the program from any Internet connected computer--at home, at school, at the public library or at a friend's! The program is supplemented with advice to parents so they can get involved, too. Teachers can manage student assignments and view student progress from the Teacher Desk. Get more information about the FCAT Explorer by viewing the appropriate presentation available from the FCAT Explorer website. You can download a Teacher's manual from there too. Contact your principal or school technology specialist if you would like to set up your classes to use FCAT Explorer. Parents may want to visit a Parent Information section to learn more. FCAT Reading Staff Development Tools are designed to help teachers prepare students for the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. Sections include short and extended response rubrics, a self-test using scoring rubrics, FCAT practice tests, teaching strategies, and related Web sites. |
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