Post by Moses on Feb 16, 2005 0:48:28 GMT -5
I Failed FCAT Writes! [/size]
(or I did really well, depending on who graded it)
I have no illusions that I will be another Hemingway - in writing, that is.
When Florida Today (Florida Today, Feb 8, 2005) asked me to take the 10th grade FCAT Writes, I wasn't too concerned. I have 2 graduate degrees, write in my job, write in my School Board position and feel fairly confident with my grasp of the language. But I was dumbfounded when one reviewer scored my essay as a 5 (of a potential 6), another scored it as a 2! Did I do really well or really poorly? The quality of my essay is of no consequence to
me, but the question troubles me.
As a state, we are valuing the opinions of 2 evaluators of student performance at a single moment in time and are discarding the evaluation of the classroom teacher who works with each student for 180 days per year.
Worse, it is evident that there can be a wide range in the subjective scoring of the evaluators. Multiple variables have been introduced into the equation - student performance and evaluator quality and consistency. Multiple measures are necessary to solve for multiple variables - in my example we have only established limits - my writing skills are somewhere between a 2 (pretty awful) and a 5 (very good).
The unofficial position is that the aberration I experienced could not happen in the 'real world' of FCAT Writes evaluation. If the difference in scores is greater than 1, then a 3rd review is initiated. With enough rolls of a die, convergence of scores is inevitable but is not meaningful.
Does it matter? Student graduation does not yet depend on FCAT Writes scores. But it almost certainly will as the testing is more fully implemented. School grades under the A+ Program are impacted by FCAT Writes, 1 of 6 factors. School performance awards are then impacted by the FCAT Writes through the school grade. It matters.
Harcourt Assessment, a company that is paid $40 million by Florida taxpayers to create the FCAT lost its testing contracts in two states and has come under fire in others because of incorrect or missing results and incompetently distributed test materials. (Palm Beach Post)
21.7% of Brevard's students scored a 3+ on Advanced Placement exams. This is above the Florida average (19%), is above the national average, and is above the average of all 50 states. Minority participation and achievement has also increased.
— Larry Hughes
Brevard County School Board
2005-02-
(or I did really well, depending on who graded it)
I have no illusions that I will be another Hemingway - in writing, that is.
When Florida Today (Florida Today, Feb 8, 2005) asked me to take the 10th grade FCAT Writes, I wasn't too concerned. I have 2 graduate degrees, write in my job, write in my School Board position and feel fairly confident with my grasp of the language. But I was dumbfounded when one reviewer scored my essay as a 5 (of a potential 6), another scored it as a 2! Did I do really well or really poorly? The quality of my essay is of no consequence to
me, but the question troubles me.
As a state, we are valuing the opinions of 2 evaluators of student performance at a single moment in time and are discarding the evaluation of the classroom teacher who works with each student for 180 days per year.
Worse, it is evident that there can be a wide range in the subjective scoring of the evaluators. Multiple variables have been introduced into the equation - student performance and evaluator quality and consistency. Multiple measures are necessary to solve for multiple variables - in my example we have only established limits - my writing skills are somewhere between a 2 (pretty awful) and a 5 (very good).
The unofficial position is that the aberration I experienced could not happen in the 'real world' of FCAT Writes evaluation. If the difference in scores is greater than 1, then a 3rd review is initiated. With enough rolls of a die, convergence of scores is inevitable but is not meaningful.
Does it matter? Student graduation does not yet depend on FCAT Writes scores. But it almost certainly will as the testing is more fully implemented. School grades under the A+ Program are impacted by FCAT Writes, 1 of 6 factors. School performance awards are then impacted by the FCAT Writes through the school grade. It matters.
Harcourt Assessment, a company that is paid $40 million by Florida taxpayers to create the FCAT lost its testing contracts in two states and has come under fire in others because of incorrect or missing results and incompetently distributed test materials. (Palm Beach Post)
21.7% of Brevard's students scored a 3+ on Advanced Placement exams. This is above the Florida average (19%), is above the national average, and is above the average of all 50 states. Minority participation and achievement has also increased.
— Larry Hughes
Brevard County School Board
2005-02-