teach1st
08-11-2005, 05:02 AM
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-locsickfcat11081105aug11,0,1796825.story?coll=orl-home-headlines
SANFORD -- Kids who take the FCAT when they are sick may be getting poor test scores that drag them -- and their schools -- down.
The Seminole County School Board is backing away from its push to have everyone show up on exam days in February and March.
The board's change in emphasis comes after parents and teachers complained this week that students who took the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test when ill now are being punished for low scores.
James Heriot, a freshman at Hagerty High in Oviedo, said his FCAT reading score dropped from a Level 5, tops in the test, in seventh grade to a Level 2 last winter in eighth grade. He took the exam shortly after he was diagnosed with diabetes and hospitalized.
"I want the School Board to know I am a good reader and I want to go to college and I don't want this to close any doors for me," James told the board.
Students who fail the FCAT sometimes must repeat a grade, can be forced to take remedial reading classes and even can be denied a diploma.
Low FCAT scores for a school result in a poorer showing when the state hands out letter grades each spring, and can bring sanctions as stringent as a state takeover of a school under the federal No Child Left Behind education law.
"It's counterproductive to have students take the test if they are incapacitated," School Board Chairman Jeanne Morris said Tuesday
Read more (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-locsickfcat11081105aug11,0,1796825.story?coll=orl-home-headlines)
SANFORD -- Kids who take the FCAT when they are sick may be getting poor test scores that drag them -- and their schools -- down.
The Seminole County School Board is backing away from its push to have everyone show up on exam days in February and March.
The board's change in emphasis comes after parents and teachers complained this week that students who took the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test when ill now are being punished for low scores.
James Heriot, a freshman at Hagerty High in Oviedo, said his FCAT reading score dropped from a Level 5, tops in the test, in seventh grade to a Level 2 last winter in eighth grade. He took the exam shortly after he was diagnosed with diabetes and hospitalized.
"I want the School Board to know I am a good reader and I want to go to college and I don't want this to close any doors for me," James told the board.
Students who fail the FCAT sometimes must repeat a grade, can be forced to take remedial reading classes and even can be denied a diploma.
Low FCAT scores for a school result in a poorer showing when the state hands out letter grades each spring, and can bring sanctions as stringent as a state takeover of a school under the federal No Child Left Behind education law.
"It's counterproductive to have students take the test if they are incapacitated," School Board Chairman Jeanne Morris said Tuesday
Read more (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-locsickfcat11081105aug11,0,1796825.story?coll=orl-home-headlines)