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Seminole Education Association Urges School Board to Oppose FCAT Focus


June 11, 2012 | WMFE - The Seminole Education Association has become the latest group to support a national resolution calling for less focus on standardized testing as a measurement for student achievement. The teachers union plans to try to convince the Seminole County School Board to sign on, as well.

A press release from the Seminole Education Association says “the original purpose of standardized tests—to help gauge students’ comprehension and progress—seems to have been forgotten amid the increasing reliance upon tests in making high-stakes decisions affecting students and teachers alike.”

The SEA says it has joined some other educational organizations, such as the National Education Association, in supporting a national resolution by a group called “Time Out from Testing.”

The resolution calls for a wider variety of assessment and accountability tools to measure student and teacher success, instead of heavily-weighted standardized tests like the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.

The SEA says its leaders will attend Thursday evening’s Seminole County School Board meeting and urge board members to join them in adopting the resolution. Some Florida county school boards have already voted in opposition to the FCAT, like Broward, Martin, Saint Lucie and Palm Beach.

This FCAT controversy is on the agenda at the Florida School Board Association meeting in Tampa Thursday.

The Florida School Board Association includes all 67 Florida counties.

 

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