Post by Moses on Oct 16, 2005 7:10:34 GMT -5
Students who dodged Katrina face FCAT
By Donna Winchester
Scarlett Howell lost everything to Hurricane Katrina: her New Orleans home, her homecoming dress, her car.
Then, as the 17-year-old was settling into a new life in St. Petersburg, another crisis loomed.
If she wanted a Florida high school diploma, her guidance counselor told her, she would have to take a test called the FCAT.
Howell, now attending Northeast High, was dumbfounded.
"I couldn't understand why they wanted me to take it," she said. "I didn't see why they couldn't just transfer my grades from the Louisiana exit exam to the FCAT."
Howell's reaction is one likely shared by hundreds of high school seniors attending Florida schools until they can reconstruct lives left behind in Louisiana. As they try to make new friends and adapt to new school systems, they also must get up to speed with classmates who, for the most part, passed the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test when they were sophomores.
The state Department of Education began requiring Florida students in 2001 to pass both the math and reading portions of the test to get a standard diploma.
Students have several chances to take the test, but if they are not successful by March of their senior year they receive only a certificate of completion, regardless of their grade point average.
And while the DOE has made some concessions to displaced students, including relaxing rules for school admissions, it is refusing to budge on the FCAT.
"It's necessary that we hold true to the statute," said department spokeswoman Michelle Dixon.
"We feel that the FCAT tests basic skills these students would have learned."
In many cases, including Howell's, the students already have passed both the Louisiana Educational Assessment Program exam and the Graduation Exit Exam, Louisiana's versions of the FCAT.
Making a special exception for displaced students, Louisiana says these students will be eligible to get Louisiana diplomas even if they finish the school year elsewhere.
But Louisiana transcripts and test results might have been lost to Katrina's floods.
So Howell, who fled New Orleans the day before Katrina hit and is now living with her father and stepmother, wants a backup plan in the form of a Florida diploma.
Florida officials say that if the students want a Florida diploma, it doesn't matter that they have passed an FCAT equivalent.
"We have a thousand people coming into Florida every day, and half of them are students," Dixon said.
"This is the same policy that applies to any student who comes to Florida for any reason from another state."
Most recent DOE figures show that 5,687 displaced students attend Florida schools. It is not clear how many are high school seniors, but school officials estimate about 100 are in the Tampa Bay area.
Several districts, including Pinellas and Pasco, encouraged displaced juniors and seniors to take FCAT retests administered earlier this month. Howell, who was among them, will have to wait about six weeks to find out if she passed.
Louisiana officials have no quarrel with Florida's decision to hold displaced students to FCAT rules.
"In order for them to get a Florida diploma, we would expect they would have to pass a Florida test," said Meg Casper, a spokeswoman for the Louisiana Department of Education.
In Texas, where more than 45,000 displaced children now live, high school students will have to pass the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills if they want a Texas diploma.
"Basically, a senior can graduate with a Louisiana high school diploma or a Texas diploma," said Suzanne Marchman, a spokeswoman for the Texas Education Agency. "If they choose to get a Texas diploma, they will be required to take the Texas test."
Pinellas school superintendent Clayton Wilcox, who spent 21/2 years overseeing East Baton Rouge Parish schools before coming to Florida, said standardized tests in the two states are similar.
"Louisiana kids who were doing well and were on progress to pass LEAP would not have any greater difficulty than a Florida kid who is on track ready to pass FCAT," Wilcox said. "The benchmarks and standards are almost universally the same."
But Chelsea Barker, a 17-year-old senior from New Orleans who took the FCAT two weeks ago when her Lakeland school district offered it, said there is more to it than that.
"The FCAT isn't a test of knowledge," said Barker, who left her home near Lake Pontchartrain just before the storm hit. "It's a test of how you take the FCAT. Teachers teach the information that is on the FCAT. I know because that's what they do with the (Louisiana test)."
Barker's parents stayed with their home while she lives with a Lakeland family for the rest of the school year.
Like Howell, she didn't find the FCAT particularly difficult. But because the format was different, she said she has no idea if she passed.
Craig Collins, principal of the performing arts magnet Barker attends, said his teachers are doing everything they can to help her and the school's three other displaced seniors, including waiving the audition required for admission.
"I think that if we have students who have already passed the test, we should take that as a means of reference for graduation," Collins said. "When you have no home, when you have no clothes, your first thought is probably not, "I have to pass the FCAT.' "
Hillsborough officials are taking a harder line.
"Our concern is to serve the evacuees the best we can and to bring their lives back to some level of normalcy," said Michael Grego, an assistant superintendent in charge of curriculum and instruction. "But we have to continue with the teaching of the Sunshine State Standards. That's what I would want if I were the parent of a child who moved here."
Grego suspects that most of the displaced seniors in Hillsborough schools will opt to receive a diploma from their home state.
"No one is trying to be punitive in terms of the diploma or the test," he said.
In Pasco County, where only five displaced seniors are attending school, officials say they are sensitive to the students' situation but must follow the state's dictates.
"Our guidance departments are there to serve their needs," said Dave Scanga, director for research and evaluation.
"But they do need to have a passing score on the FCAT. It's a state law to get a standard diploma."
Howell, the Northeast High senior, said school districts' efforts to make things easier for displaced students is little consolation if they can't make the FCAT go away.
"There's a chance I'll have to stay here for my full senior year," said Howell, who recently learned her home suffered heavy damage and that her school may be beyond repair.
"If that's the case, I still want to be able to graduate with the class of 2006."
Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.
STUDENT EVACUEES
Number of high school students in the Tampa Bay area displaced by Hurricane Katrina, according to the most recent figures from the Florida Department of Education:
Citrus 13
Hernando 24
Hillsborough 275
Pasco 85
Pinellas 155
Florida total 5,687
— Donna Winchester
St. Petersburg Times
2005-10-15
www.sptimes.com/2005/10/15/State/Students_who_dodged_K.shtml
By Donna Winchester
Scarlett Howell lost everything to Hurricane Katrina: her New Orleans home, her homecoming dress, her car.
Then, as the 17-year-old was settling into a new life in St. Petersburg, another crisis loomed.
If she wanted a Florida high school diploma, her guidance counselor told her, she would have to take a test called the FCAT.
Howell, now attending Northeast High, was dumbfounded.
"I couldn't understand why they wanted me to take it," she said. "I didn't see why they couldn't just transfer my grades from the Louisiana exit exam to the FCAT."
Howell's reaction is one likely shared by hundreds of high school seniors attending Florida schools until they can reconstruct lives left behind in Louisiana. As they try to make new friends and adapt to new school systems, they also must get up to speed with classmates who, for the most part, passed the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test when they were sophomores.
The state Department of Education began requiring Florida students in 2001 to pass both the math and reading portions of the test to get a standard diploma.
Students have several chances to take the test, but if they are not successful by March of their senior year they receive only a certificate of completion, regardless of their grade point average.
And while the DOE has made some concessions to displaced students, including relaxing rules for school admissions, it is refusing to budge on the FCAT.
"It's necessary that we hold true to the statute," said department spokeswoman Michelle Dixon.
"We feel that the FCAT tests basic skills these students would have learned."
In many cases, including Howell's, the students already have passed both the Louisiana Educational Assessment Program exam and the Graduation Exit Exam, Louisiana's versions of the FCAT.
Making a special exception for displaced students, Louisiana says these students will be eligible to get Louisiana diplomas even if they finish the school year elsewhere.
But Louisiana transcripts and test results might have been lost to Katrina's floods.
So Howell, who fled New Orleans the day before Katrina hit and is now living with her father and stepmother, wants a backup plan in the form of a Florida diploma.
Florida officials say that if the students want a Florida diploma, it doesn't matter that they have passed an FCAT equivalent.
"We have a thousand people coming into Florida every day, and half of them are students," Dixon said.
"This is the same policy that applies to any student who comes to Florida for any reason from another state."
Most recent DOE figures show that 5,687 displaced students attend Florida schools. It is not clear how many are high school seniors, but school officials estimate about 100 are in the Tampa Bay area.
Several districts, including Pinellas and Pasco, encouraged displaced juniors and seniors to take FCAT retests administered earlier this month. Howell, who was among them, will have to wait about six weeks to find out if she passed.
Louisiana officials have no quarrel with Florida's decision to hold displaced students to FCAT rules.
"In order for them to get a Florida diploma, we would expect they would have to pass a Florida test," said Meg Casper, a spokeswoman for the Louisiana Department of Education.
In Texas, where more than 45,000 displaced children now live, high school students will have to pass the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills if they want a Texas diploma.
"Basically, a senior can graduate with a Louisiana high school diploma or a Texas diploma," said Suzanne Marchman, a spokeswoman for the Texas Education Agency. "If they choose to get a Texas diploma, they will be required to take the Texas test."
Pinellas school superintendent Clayton Wilcox, who spent 21/2 years overseeing East Baton Rouge Parish schools before coming to Florida, said standardized tests in the two states are similar.
"Louisiana kids who were doing well and were on progress to pass LEAP would not have any greater difficulty than a Florida kid who is on track ready to pass FCAT," Wilcox said. "The benchmarks and standards are almost universally the same."
But Chelsea Barker, a 17-year-old senior from New Orleans who took the FCAT two weeks ago when her Lakeland school district offered it, said there is more to it than that.
"The FCAT isn't a test of knowledge," said Barker, who left her home near Lake Pontchartrain just before the storm hit. "It's a test of how you take the FCAT. Teachers teach the information that is on the FCAT. I know because that's what they do with the (Louisiana test)."
Barker's parents stayed with their home while she lives with a Lakeland family for the rest of the school year.
Like Howell, she didn't find the FCAT particularly difficult. But because the format was different, she said she has no idea if she passed.
Craig Collins, principal of the performing arts magnet Barker attends, said his teachers are doing everything they can to help her and the school's three other displaced seniors, including waiving the audition required for admission.
"I think that if we have students who have already passed the test, we should take that as a means of reference for graduation," Collins said. "When you have no home, when you have no clothes, your first thought is probably not, "I have to pass the FCAT.' "
Hillsborough officials are taking a harder line.
"Our concern is to serve the evacuees the best we can and to bring their lives back to some level of normalcy," said Michael Grego, an assistant superintendent in charge of curriculum and instruction. "But we have to continue with the teaching of the Sunshine State Standards. That's what I would want if I were the parent of a child who moved here."
Grego suspects that most of the displaced seniors in Hillsborough schools will opt to receive a diploma from their home state.
"No one is trying to be punitive in terms of the diploma or the test," he said.
In Pasco County, where only five displaced seniors are attending school, officials say they are sensitive to the students' situation but must follow the state's dictates.
"Our guidance departments are there to serve their needs," said Dave Scanga, director for research and evaluation.
"But they do need to have a passing score on the FCAT. It's a state law to get a standard diploma."
Howell, the Northeast High senior, said school districts' efforts to make things easier for displaced students is little consolation if they can't make the FCAT go away.
"There's a chance I'll have to stay here for my full senior year," said Howell, who recently learned her home suffered heavy damage and that her school may be beyond repair.
"If that's the case, I still want to be able to graduate with the class of 2006."
Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.
STUDENT EVACUEES
Number of high school students in the Tampa Bay area displaced by Hurricane Katrina, according to the most recent figures from the Florida Department of Education:
Citrus 13
Hernando 24
Hillsborough 275
Pasco 85
Pinellas 155
Florida total 5,687
— Donna Winchester
St. Petersburg Times
2005-10-15
www.sptimes.com/2005/10/15/State/Students_who_dodged_K.shtml