State investigates tests ahead of Florida Standards Assessment

After facing criticism about his education policies during his first stint in office, Gov. Rick Scott pledged to make schooling a priority for a second term. PolitiFact Florida is still grading whether he's going to reach his goals.

One promise was to address mounting concerns about Florida's contentious standardized tests. Scott said he wanted the Department of Education to investigate every test across the state's school districts, including when students take their tests and why, how long the test takes and what happens to children as a result of test scores.

"We have too much testing. We need to spend more time on learning," Scott said at an education conference hosted by former Gov. Jeb Bush on Feb. 10, 2015. "We need this year to work with the legislature to get something done."

The backdrop here is that testing is changing as the state adopts the so-called Florida Standards. The Florida Standards closely mirror Common Core practices, albeit slightly tweaked and with a different name.

Education Commissioner Pam Stewart announced on Dec. 22 the formation of the Keep Florida Learning Committee, a group that will review how to implement the Florida Standards and the new Florida Standards Assessment test, which is replacing the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, or FCAT. It will include 11 educators, legislators and citizens to through an application process, with individuals to be named sometime in February.

Standardized test scores are used in part to assign schools letter grades to measure effectiveness, a practice that started under then-Gov. Bush's "A-Plus" education initiative. Schools are then penalized or rewarded according to those grades. Failing grades can mean holding students back, closing schools and firing teachers.

Department of Education spokeswoman Cheryl Etters told PolitiFact Florida on Feb. 12 that the state had also gathered information from districts on federal, state and local assessments and how they are used, and that agency staff were analyzing the data to have a report ready at the start of the next legislative session, which begins March 3. In the meantime, Stewart has repeated that testing is mandatory for Florida students.

Anti-testing groups, meanwhile, question if Scott actually wants to fix the problem, or is just throwing a bone to bipartisan opposition against standardized tests.

Bob Schaeffer, public education director for the anti-testing group FairTest, said anyone can order an investigation, but Tallahassee seems to be at a loss for what to do about an overabundance of tests.

"So far there have been specific but modest proposals from legislative leadership, but nothing from the governor or the Department of Education … so reformers are watching and waiting," Schaeffer said. "Quite frankly, there has not been much discussion about what Rick Scott is doing and how much influence he has on the Legislature."

One question that remains is how much power Scott or the Department of Education would have on their own to alter testing guidelines. In 2014, after widespread protests from parents and teachers, Stewart suspended the Florida Assessments for Instruction in Reading, or FAIR test, in kindergarten through second grade. That test was only to monitor student progress, however, and didn't factor into school grading or funding.

On Jan. 28, 2015, Scott met with a group of Florida school superintendents who said they were concerned that new tests were being implemented too quickly. They asked him to freeze school grades through 2015-16 to provide a baseline for the new test and eliminate some requirements, including new end-of-course exams for high schoolers. The group said it is worried a rush to start using the new test could cause the school accountability system to "implode."

Ceresta Smith, a teacher in Miami-Dade County and administrator for the anti-testing group United Opt Out, said she did not have high hopes for the current process. If officials were serious about reform they would immediately move to get rid of the current reliance on standardized testing, which she said has only provided marginal improvements in Florida schools.

"Instead they would fully fund public education, use only grade-span testing via random sampling, improve the requirements for acquiring teacher certification, provide incentives to desegregate schools and work hard to end student and teacher poverty," she said.

Even Bush, who championed more testing as governor, said during a Feb. 10 education summit at Florida State University that he supported reform efforts, although assessments were still needed.

"If you don't measure, you don't really care," Bush said. "You have to assess where students are. We can have better tests. We can have fewer tests."

Scott said he would direct Stewart to investigate the state's standardized tests. The review has begun at Scott's behest, with a report due to the Legislature when it convenes for 2015, and a separate committee will discuss the new Florida Standards Assessment test. We rate this promise In The Works.