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The School Board of Lee Count will vote later this month on its uniform statewide assessment calendar for state-required testing.
A new nuance for further discussion may be a possible change in the way students are assessed next year.
On Sept. 14, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a legislative proposal that would eliminate common core based, end of year, high stakes FSA testing. The proposal would create a new Florida Assessment of Student Thinking (F.A.S.T.), which would monitor student progress, and foster individual growth.
"Florida's education focus should be students' growth and how we restore the conversation between parents and teachers in support of students' growth," DeSantis said in a prepared statement. "In this final step to eradicate Common Core from our assessments, our administration is implementing the lessons learned from progress monitoring both during the state's recovery and from our districts and schools that were already showing how we can better support students reaching their own unique growth goals."
As this has to be passed by the State Legislature before implemented, for this school year testing will remain the same.
Accountability, Research & Assessment Director Dr. Matthew Kaye reviewed the uniform test calendar with the board recently, as they have to follow a process to submit to the Florida Department of Education in regards to the statewide and district assessments by Oct. 1.
The proposed document includes six components, some of which highlight the test, type, purpose and use, required statewide assessments, statewide assessments for select students, district required assessment information and estimates of total testing time by grade level.
Kaye said the Department of Education provides the district with assessment windows, which gives guidance of when the tests will be taken at the district level.
"There are different types of formats, paper and computer based. There is some flexibility in computer base, but very specific dates for paper assessments," he said.
The writing and third grade ELA may be administered on, or after April 4, while all other assessments can be administered on or after May 3. Furthermore, the district is required to choose specific dates for the Spring Paper-Based tests, which includes grades 4-10 writing, grades 3-6 ELA and math and science grades five and eight.
There are also statewide assessments for select students, such as high school retakes for ELA and Algebra 1 graduation requirements, PSAT for sophomore students and SAT or ACT for junior students.
Board member Betsy Vaughn had great concern that the district is not doing enough for really high level achieving students.
"Personally, I would like to see us do a much better job," she said of students taking the PSAT. "Students didn't know the value of the PSAT as the national merit qualifying test. I would like to see us put better information out there for 11th graders. I want to see our smart kids get the recognition and opportunities to enter top tier universities."
Kaye said over the last five to six months there has been discussion in academic services and they hope to have something defined soon.
The district also has progress monitoring for quarters one, two and three. Those include STAR or iReady, assessments for science and social studies in state-tested grades and subjects, exemplars as formative assessments for instructional adjustment, quarterly comprehensives and fluency checks.
Kaye said there also is an estimate of total testing time by grade level which the district has to follow, which is below 5 percent of total instructional time. That 5 percent is defined by the Florida Department of Education as 900 hours per year of instructional time.
He said for grade three that percentage is 2.7 percent and for fourth grade it is 2.9 percent .
Board member Chris Patricca asked what percentage of instructional time has been taken for more testing.
"A lot of these minutes are district assessment minutes. I would like to see if we are creeping up as we suspect we are," she said.
Board member Melisa Giovannelli had a slightly different concern as instructional time has a great impact on student achievement.
"How does less time in the classroom impact our testing and our results." she asked.
Superintendent Dr. Ken Savage said the time they spend is important for different core instructional work. Discussions are still being held for increasing the school day time.
Savage said there has been learning loss due to the different methods of instruction used during last school year. He said with ESSER funds they are looking to make sure there is additional focus with intervention and longer blocks of time.
The board will vote on the uniform testing calendar on Sept. 21, which will include the superintendent making provisions and adjustments as necessary. After board approval, Kaye said it will be posted on the district’s website for the public and finalized to the state by the Oct. 1 deadline.