FLORIDA LEGISLATURE

Lawmakers look to lessen schools' reliance on FCAT

BY GARY FINEOUT

gfineout@MiamiHerald.com

A bipartisan group of legislators is backing a measure that would grade high schools on more than just student scores from the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, the high-stakes test that has been the centerpiece of the A-plus education plan championed by the former Republican governor.

''This does not replace the FCAT -- this legislation builds upon the FCAT,'' said Sen. Don Gaetz, the Niceville Republican and chairman of the Senate Education Pre-K-12 committee who is pushing the legislation.

Gaetz's bill would not end the use of the familiar A through F grades now used to grade pubic schools, but the state would rely on other factors, such as graduation rates, SAT scores and performance on Advanced Placement courses.

If the bill becomes law, the new measures would take effect in the 2009-10 school year.

It could prove an enormous challenge for some schools that have been labeled ''dropout factories.'' Florida has one of the nation's worst high school graduation rates.

Gaetz argues that not enough high school students take the FCAT now to base a school's entire grade on those test scores. All students take the FCAT through the 10th grade, but 11th-graders take only the science portion. He said the added measures will allow the state to evaluate the schools on performance ``not subject to home cooking.''

Democrats, who have railed against the FCAT since Bush first expanded its use, so far are backing the legislation, as is Education Commissioner Eric Smith. The bill sailed through Gaetz's own committee on Wednesday, and Gov. Charlie Crist said he is open to the measure.

''It sounds like a smart thing to do,'' Crist said.

Foundation for Florida's Future, the nonprofit group set up by Bush to promote his education reforms, also supports the legislation. Patricia Levesque, executive director of the foundation, told lawmakers that the measure ''builds'' upon the existing school grading formula since it still relies on school performance.

While this is the most significant change that the Republican-led Legislature has proposed so far, it may not be the only tweak to the FCAT taken up this year. House Republicans are backing their own plan to add social studies to the FCAT and they want to mandate the development of new ''world class'' curriculum standards that would be used to reshape the test.

Some lawmakers also want the state to seriously consider adopting the system in place in the state of New York, where exams are given to high school students at the end of the year to test how well they mastered the subject they learned in a class.