MELBOURNE, Florida – With increasing concerns among children and parents, scores from Florida Standards Assessments, or FSA exams, may not count toward student retention and graduation, or critical factors such as teacher pay and school funding, he suggested the Florida education commissioner on Monday.
FSA exams are due to begin on April 5, but during an unprecedented school year, many parents are concerned about the impact of testing on their children’s future.
Speaking at a news conference in Melbourne on Monday, Florida Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran said the US Department of Education is giving all states the opportunity to request an exemption to potentially eliminate testing liability requirements standardized as the FSA.
On a Letter of February 22 for state governors and education officials, the Department of Education’s Elementary and Secondary Education Office said:
“A state that receives this exemption would not be required to implement and report the results of its accountability system, including the calculation of progress towards long-term goals and measurements of progress or interim indicators …”
The letter seemed to give individual states the flexibility to decide whether standardized test results across the state should count towards student, teacher and school performance, saying:
“… we also encourage states and school districts to consider other steps within their competence to further reduce the value of assessments this year, such as excluding their use of students’ final grades and grade promotion decisions.”
Corcoran said his office is now collecting information from school superintendents across the state before making a decision on the exemption.
“When we receive this opinion, we request an exemption and then we will collaboratively find out what is best to do,” said Corcoran.
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Florida Education Commissioner talks about FSA exams
SPECIAL COVERAGE: State of Education
The education commissioner said that, regardless of whether the grades end up counting or not, all students who can should take the FSA exams.
“All sides say you want that responsibility,” said Corcoran. “” We have to go there and get the measurement. When we get the measurement, we can sit down, look at the data and make the decisions that are best for children. “
Due to the growing fear among parents, State Sen. Perry Thurston, D-Broward County, introduced a bill in January this would prohibit this year’s test scores from being used to retain students or prevent them from graduating.
“Why do we use it [COVID-19] catastrophe that we were forced to deal with in terms of this pandemic to punish [students]? “Thurston told Stephanie Susskind of WPTV.
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Florida students, schools would not be penalized for FSA scores under the proposed bill
The Thurson bill is currently in the Florida Senate Education Appropriations Subcommittee and there is also a complementary bill in the Florida House of Representatives.
RELATED: Florida Students, Schools Wouldn’t Be Penalized for FSA Scores Under the Proposed Bill
The Florida Department of Education has already extended the FSA test window by two weeks to give school districts more flexibility to administer exams.
Currently, the state requires students to take the tests in person, including those who have been in distance education throughout the school year.
Dr. Donald Fennoy, superintendent of the Palm Beach County School District, told WPTV that extending the test window will allow schools to better distribute students.
“We need the data. We need to know what really happened to our children’s learning loss or learning gains in this period,” said Fennoy. “But to penalize schools, to put low marks, I disagree 100% of this right now.”
On Monday, Corcoran assured parents that the Florida Department of Education will work with local school districts to ensure that the testing process is as safe as possible.
“We want them to understand that it is safe, and getting that assessment from their children and where they need to go after a year in the pandemic is extremely more important,” said Corcoran. “We will do what is right, we will do what is fair, we will do what is fair and we are leading with grace and compassion.”
Cheryl Etters, the deputy director of communications for the Florida Department of Education, sent additional information in a written statement to WPTV:
“It is important to understand and communicate to the Floridians that submitting and approving these exemptions does not mean that Florida is exempt from state law requirements in relation to school evaluation, accountability and improvement. We will request these exemptions from federal law to maximize our sovereignty in making these decisions. Receiving these exemptions from federal laws increases our responsibility for those decisions that are critical to ensuring our children’s education. “
To see the complete FSA test schedule, Click here.