Florida Department of Education Launches Web Site for 12th Graders [who want to graduate]

http://www.fldoe.org ^ | May 12, 2003 | FL Dept of Education

[summer]

Florida Department of Education Launches Web Site for 12th Graders

Online resource provides options for students who did not meet the minimum required score on the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test (FCAT)

TALLAHASSEE — Education Commissioner Jim Horne today announced the launch of:

www.12thGradeOptions.org,

a new Web site for 12th graders who have not met the minimum required score the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test (FCAT) and need information about their options. Students who would otherwise be eligible for graduation, except for meeting the minimum required score on the FCAT, can now receive both classroom and online instruction.

"This Web site is a one-stop shop for 12th graders," said Horne. "The site gives students information on a fast-track approach to improve their future educational opportunities."

The Web site is part of the Department of Education's individualized approach to reaching struggling students. Those students who did not meet the minimum required score will receive a letter from Commissioner Horne with a PIN number that will allow them to use the site.

As reported earlier this week, the required minimum score for the class of 2003 is 287 in Reading and 295 in Mathematics. Students in the class of 2003 who met those scores but not the current 300 cut score will not receive a letter, as they have met the minimum standards on the FCAT to graduate. The number of students receiving letters statewide is approximately 12,784.

Florida's 12th graders who completed all requirements for a high school diploma, but did not meet the minimum required score on the FCAT, now have two routes to choose from to obtain their high school diploma: FCAT Remediation and GED Preparation. The Web site offers tutorials to aid students in preparing for either the FCAT or GED.

While they prepare for the FCAT or GED, 12th graders can obtain counseling about high demand occupational training programs in which they can enroll while pursuing their high school diploma. Once they obtain a GED or standard high school diploma, they will be accepted into an AS, AAS or AA degree program at a Florida community college.

In addition to the website, students may obtain additional, personalized assistance from:

--High school guidance counselors;

--Adult education counselors in school districts and community colleges; and

--The Florida Department of Education's 12th Grade Options toll-free number, 1-800-315-0833.

[summer]

One of the options available to students involves the "Plato" program which is an online program that has been very popular with some high school students I've talked to in FL. Students greatly appreciate they can work at jobs while taking coursework for high school online. To find more info about this option, follow this link:

www.12thGradeOptions

Also -- FL has recently redesigned the FL Dept of Education website, and IMO, done a fantastic job making it more user-friendly for students, parents and teachers. Check it out: FL Dept of Education

[Lunatic Fringe]

I wonder how they can be eligible for graduation (passed their classes) but cant pass the FCAT exam (basic skills test). I think we need to look to the teachers for an explanation.

[Xenalyte]

Summer, you're a teacher out there, right?

It's been almost 20 years since I was in public school, but I remember taking the standardized tests in like 15 minutes, then snoozing through the rest of test time, and only waking up to feel my intelligence being insulted.

Here you had a bunch of high-school honor students - and we did indeed merit the title - who could read and write better than any college students I encountered while I was teaching, and we were being tested on stuff we learned in SIXTH GRADE.

It was quite an insult, and a huge waste of time and district resources.

And it's not just the ubergeeks who did well; my dyslexic brother aced the tests routinely. (Took him a little longer to read the questions, of course.) Come to think of it, I do not know one person - not ONE - who ever "failed" a standardized test.

So my question to you is how on EARTH anyone fails these tests.

[ladylib]

Some of these kids made A's and B's in their courses. They had to pass end of course exams, so the excuse that they don't test well is not valid.

Look at the curriculum, the teachers, and the administrators.

[tutstar]

10th gr FCAT sample
http://www.myfloridaeducation.com/sas/fcat/pdf/fc0mib2a.pdf

other samples for gr 4, 8, 10
http://www.firn.edu/doe/sas/fcat/fcatit00.htm

I also don't remember the tests I took having the mathematical formulas listed so all I had to do was plug in the numbers.

[Only1choice____Freedom]

A lot of good this does if they can't read!

[Only1choice____Freedom]

They can't get to the site because they keep typing in playdough.com

[LiteKeeper]

Education SPOTREP

[I still care]

The problem I have with these tests is they are mostly word problems. They give the kids a calculator, the formulas and basically ask them to make sense out of convoluted word problems. Some kids find this extremely difficult, and I don't know how you could really study for this test. I think these "math" tests don't really test math ability at all.

My idea of a math test is no calculator and problems such as 13.8 + 31.8 = x. Find x.

[summer]

Summer, you're a teacher out there, right?
Yes, I am.

It's been almost 20 years since I was in public school, but I remember taking the standardized tests in like 15 minutes, then snoozing through the rest of test time...

I am the same way you are with respect to taking tests. But many teachers - in fact, I would say most teachers - are not as comfortable taking tests themselves. :)

[summer]

I wonder how they can be eligible for graduation (passed their classes) but cant pass the FCAT exam (basic skills test). I think we need to look to the teachers for an explanation.

TO be honest with you, my gut instinct tells me there is a lot of press and media hype about the few students you are talking about -- when in fact it is a tiny percentage of students; and, the vast majority of these kids who can't pass FCAT also failed their regular classes.

[summer]

Re your post #4; see my post #11.

[summer]

RE your post #6 - To my surprise, there is a voiceover on the site, reading the text, so that one doesn't even have to read it.

[summer]

Re your post #8 - What is "SPOTREP"?

[summer]

Thanks for your post. Also, FYI --

Just how tough is the FCAT? [Take these sample tests, Grades 3-10, from the FL Dept of Education!]

[LiteKeeper]

I am a retired Army officer (artillery, MI, and chaplain). I have the privilege of teaching several classes in Colorado Springs to high school, college, and adults on comparative worldviews (biblical vs secular). As I read the various threads, some impress me as good for illustrating different worldviews. So, using some Army terminology, I mark "incidents" as "SPOTREPS" (spot report) and "descriptions of the current world scene" as "SITREPs" (situation reports). When I get home, I download these SPOTREPs and SITREPs to a database for future use.

Does that help?

[summer]

Re your post #16 - Yes; how fascinating! Also -- thanks for your service to our great nation. :)

[Only1choice____Freedom]

>>"there is a voiceover on the site..."


Stop it now, you're scaring me.