FCAT Scores in Florida

Please, please do not freak out.

This exact thing happened at our daughters middle school.. It is a National Blue Ribbon Middle School. The parents started pulling their kids and just did not want to hear what the reason was or how it was going to be handled.

It literally was 1 student who failed the science portion. But he was the only child from that demographic to even take the test.. Since these statewide test are based on statistics.. this is why this school lost its high ranking.

We also had a lot of students transfer to this campus, because their school had been low performing for 3 straight years!!! These students did not even know how to use or read a ruler... !!! Middle school kids!!

Our kids were mostly taking intro to Algebra, advanced writing, Science etc..

And so as a campus, we called out the troops and parents were tutoring and mentoring, the teachers were working through the campus plan.. Our students continued to advance and all of theses new students as a group did so well that if that 1 student had not failed the science portion.. our school would have kept their rating!!!

Listen to what the exact outcome for each group was.

How did your son do on the test Did he pass all portions? Did he score in the right percentile?

I used to remind parents, the children that are doing well, will continue to do well.. They will continue to be challenged and their needs met.

The students that struggle or failed will be pulled out of class for individual tutoring and special help for their learning deficiencies.

Continue to have your son read, and you continue to read to him.. no matter how old he is, it is good for you all as a family to read out aloud to each other in the car in the evenings.. etc.. Then discuss what was read.

In the summer I used to have our daughter pick out science fair projects.. She would complete them with photos and notes, then we would place them in manilla folders so when it came time for the actual science fair, she had 1 set of results and could do another, by picking out her favorite summer project.

I am not sure how old he is, but I also used to have our daughter write out our grocery shopping list, based on the specials in the Wed. ads. Then we would make up a menu and a budget.. She would add up prices and help me at he store find the specials and compare prices.

I know this is all frustrating, but please keep yourself informed.. and yyes ask questions, but do not get pulled into the alarmist section..

That would alarm me too. Is there any reason why there was such a drop? Did the school lines get changed (a new population included this year that was not last year).

I not only think it is fair to ask, you need to ask the principal. Not sure if this is true in all cases, but being involved could help your son get more attention.

Obviously your son can still be a strong student in this situation, it will just mean a lot more work on his and your part.

School test scores aren't everything, and they don't affect your child at all. Your child never even sees his score (unless you decide to share it with him.) The only standardized tests that will ever really matter are the SAT and/or ACT.
Scores in our district are high because we have a highly educated and involved parent population. Yes I think most of our teachers are pretty good, but it certainly helps that they have a whole posse of parents coming in all the time, to help with guided reading, run centers, etc. not to mention the fact that we raise a ton of money locally so our teachers have classroom aides and access to continuing education and training. Most public school teachers don't have the kind of support we have here, and after all, it's kind of hard to work one on one with a child when you are the only adult body in the classroom for most of the day, you know?
As long as your child is safe and happy and learning, that is all that matters. If you feel he needs extra support in certain areas, work on that at home. My youngest needs a lot of reading practice so I signed her up for a book club this summer with girls her age (SO much more fun and effective than hiring a tutor or going to Kumon!)

Just wondering - what school is your son attending and what would be your choices if you were to choose school choice ? That can make a difference.
I will say that test scores are not everything. There were A LOT of changes made this year in regards to the test, how it was scored, etc.
There are actually MORE changes on the way - Florida is switching its standards to what is called Common Core. The changes were somewhat implemented last year in K and will continue to be more implemented in first grade. Your son will actually be in the group who does not take the FCAT when he is in 3rd grade but the new assessment that is part of Common Core. Common Core is not that tricky. It really means diving deeper into thinking and learning. Instead of children memorizing or giving "easy" answers that they can locate in the text - it is asking them to think. As a society we have gotten away from challenging students and turned to easy, quick answers - I think ALL are responsible for this, not just schools. Kids today are too much into instant gratification and also afraid to try something a bit more challenging for fear they won't know the answer or it might be "too hard". Given a chance at a challenge, kids can surprise you with what they can do, even if we as adults might think we are asking too much of such young children.
Getting involved in your PTA is a good start. Being known around school & helping out at all - if you can at all - can give you a chance to see what is going on and even talk to other parents about their children's experiences. Not sure if your school allows for teacher requests but this can get you to that point if you are familiar with the school.
As an earlier person stated, don't freak out because a lower school score really can occur based on 1 or 2 students scores. It's all about the demographic groups included.
Good Luck!