FCAT Testing And Its Uses

The Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test (FCAT) is a standardized test that is given to students in third through eleventh grades in Florida. These tests are used to track the progress of students and monitor the effectiveness of methods used in the classroom. The FCAT is designed to track reading and mathematics, which are fundamental life skills.

FCAT results are released in several different ways. One way is through the scale score. This score ranges from 100 to 500 in each subject and grade level. The scores are then split between five achievement levels and are reported as a percentage of students falling into each level to create the achievement score.

Another method used is the developmental score. This score shows each individual student's progress over the years--showing strengths and improvements as well as areas that are lacking. Scores are reported on three different levels, by student, school, and district.

The State Of Florida's Standardized Test

Florida created the FCAT to help the education department track the progress of schools and find problem areas. Student achievement is a good indicator of how well the school system and teachers are doing their jobs. Schools are then graded based on how well their student population performed on the FCAT. An elite group of schools with high test scores receive the score of an A+ school.

In the Florida school system, students are required to pass the tenth grade FCAT prior to receiving a high school diploma. Failure to pass does not mean a student will not graduate. It simply means that the student must retake the failed section sometime prior to graduation and pass.

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