| Expand the FCAT a call for a positive attitude and more Improve FCAT by expanding it By Steve McCrea, teacher “FCAT is a useful tool.” Ha! Most students and teachers in the public school system don’t agree. “Dump the FCAT” is a common refrain expressed by my more militant colleagues, but most just grumble and urge each other to “deal with it, even if the test isn’t valid.” I used to oppose the FCAT but there are three reasons why “just live with the FCAT” should not be tolerated: expectations, recent brain research and Howard Gardner. First, think about how much better you feel when you approach a task after a person in authority (your boss, parent, big brother, teacher) tells you that “it’s going to be just fine.” Numerous studies have shown that positive expectations improve performance, while a negative attitude in the same person doing similar work yields reduced performance. It doesn’t help kids when teachers explain that FCAT stands for “Frustrating Children And Teachers.” Second, brain structure is not identical, so creating any single test will give some people an advantage. Slight differences give each of us an edge or tendency to find one way of working easier than another. An ABC TV special hosted by Dr. Nancy Snyderman in 2002 is my primary reference for parents interested in learning more about difference in convergent and divergent thinking. Third, A researcher in Harvard, Howard Gardner, has spent the last 22 years describing abilities of the developing mind. The FCAT and other standardized tests assess some of these abilities, principally spatial visualization (particularly geometry) and logical and language skills. Gardner claims that there are possibly a dozen other potentials that each of us express or could develop to varying degrees. Does this make sense? Sure. Think about that back-of-the-room clown in your 8th grade science class who was always getting into trouble. Yes, the guy at the back of the class or the girl who never quit whispering or passing notes. Where are they now? Some comics in high school turned into comedians or very effective sales managers. Knowing this, we should not oppose the FCAT, but instead we should seek a wider battery of assessments. “A bigger FCAT?” Most people in education claim that they are fed up with the current test. Here are some typical complaints about FCAT: a) It’s not fair. True Students who are good at reading long books are sometimes not good at answering FCAT questions. Students who have fabulous talents sometimes don’t have the skill of writing a short answer quickly. What does it take? Practice, practice, practice. b) Practicing for FCAT takes away time for real learning. That’s why I’m asking students to practice at home using the workbooks that I sent home. If your child does not have an FCAT book at home, please call me and I will arrange for another copy to be mailed to you. c) It’s so boring. Yes, the exercises are often about subjects that we don’t care about and the writing is about something that is not interesting. Welcome to the real world where we have to do things that someone else asks us to do. Accentuate the Positve, Eliminate the Negative Here are some other ways to look at FCAT a) FCAT questions look like SAT questions. Good! Free practice for preparing for college! b) I learned something really interesting from an FCAT reading. And it was a 6th grade text! Now I remember April 25 as “the anniversary of the sinking of the Sultana, when 1700 people died.” That’s more than the Titanic. Examples of teachers who support the FCAT.... Michael Rooney is quoted in the Sun-Sentinel as follows: "FCAT has done amazing things. I started teaching for FIU nine years ago and I was getting college seniors who couldn't write, couldn't do basic spelling. It was deplorable and yet today it's a total turnaround. . . And I attribute that to changes in Florida's educational system that now have an FCAT test." January 26, 2005, page 6B Why do we call this website "NEW" FCAT? Because we had to look at the test in a new way... to see that it is a valuable part of the assessment process. We hope that portfolios will eventually be included in the FCAT, but until then, let's upport students by being POSITIVE! A positive Mental Attitude (PMA) is the best way to prepare! You’re probably wondering why you haven’t heard more positive comments about FCAT from teachers. Well, because I’m a coward. Oh, and so are most of the other teachers who, in their hearts, know that the FCAT (with improvements) is improving the school system. Teachers prefer to point out how the testing has skewed classtime away from the curriculum, how the FCAT discriminates, how the FCAT is not a valid test (multiple choice tests should have a factor to counter guessing). When I’m in a teachers’ training workshop about reading in December, one of the presenters made a negative comment about the test “just 60 days away,” and the chorus of catcalls and boos reminded me what a coward I am. Who would stand up in a fashion show for fur and voice dissent? Who would choose to attend a conference for vegetarians to proselytize the virtues of red meat’s concentrated nutrients? Not I. I prefer to share this viewpoint in the relative anonymity of the Herald, blending in with the black-on-white codes we call an alphabet. After all, most people are visual and don’t like to read. In short, let’s ask the Governor to expand the test. Appoint a commission to recommend ways to assess and encourage the development of music, movement, inter- and intrapersonal abilities. Let’s send a positive message to students: “yes, there are multiple ways of preparing for life. We’d like you to be successful readers and writers, but we realize that those modes are not the only way to express and receive information. We, the older generation, found reading and writing to be important, but we admit that there are many routes up that mountain called “Success.” In other words, expand the FCAT by adding new modes, not just new subjects. Don’t listen to the naysayers who would pull down the FCAT. Fix the FCAT by expanding it. Steve McCrea 2314 Desota Drive Fort Lauderdale FL www.newFCAT.com mistermath@comcast.net |
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| It's a new attitude First version of this page Multiple Intelligences, EQ, and other areas to assess, measure. What does "FCAT" stand for? My students tell me that FCAT means: Floridians Can Achieve Together I don't understand. Why is it a bad thing for students to show that they can do basic math, read a variety of material and write a clear sentence? FCAT is a great way to prepare for success and happiness in life. (This is a paraphrasing of a college professor's viewpoint.) GET YOUR newFCAT kit What's in the NewFCAT kit? 25 wrist bands that remind us to "Work Together!" A class mascot (a furry stuffed animal toy) A VHS Video with "music for studying" and tips for two types of learning styles (VISUAL ACTIVE or SOCIAL INTERACTIVE) a poster to color Ask for your kit today! We hope you will create your own kit or send $10 to cover the cost of creating and mailing these kits. If you want to sponsor a kit to another school, call! Let's practice on FCAT Explorer Practice at Teachers to Teachers Why do we call this website "NEW" FCAT? Because we had to look at the test in a new way... to see that it is a valuable part of the assessment process. We hope that portfolios will eventually be included in the FCAT, but until then, let's upport students by being POSITIVE! A positive Mental Attitude (PMA) is the best way to prepare! We support Tsunami Relief by giving away a Wrist Band with every newFCAT kit >>> (We buy the wrist band from www. promotionalworld.com at 1-888-556-7766 and then pass them on to you as our gift.) |
| What would an expanded FCAT look like?
Howard Gardner calls for performance tests, not quick responses or multiple choice or short-answer tests. He calls it “a performance of understanding.” From Intelligence Reframed… When it comes to probing a student’s understanding of evolution, the shrewd pedagogue looks beyond the mastery of dictionary definitions or the recitation of textbook examples. A student demonstrates or “performs” his understanding when he can examine a range of species found in different ecological niches and speculate about the reasons for their particular ensemble of traits. A student performs her understanding of the Holocaust when she can compare events in a Nazi concentration camp to such contemporary genocidal events as those in Bosnia, Kosovo or Rwanda in the 1990s. “Measures of understanding” may seem demanding, particularly in contract to current, often superficial, efforts to measure what students know and are able to do. And, indeed, recourse to performing one’s understanding is likely to stress students, teachers, and parents, who have grown accustomed to traditional ways of doing(or NOT doing) things. Nonetheless, a performance approach to understanding is justified. Instead of mastering content, one thinks about the reason why a particular content is being taught and how best to display one’s comprehension of this content in a publicly accessible way. When students realize they will have to apply knowledge and demonstrate insights in a public form, they assume a more active stance to the material, seeking to exercise their “performance muscles” whenever possible. Page 160 to 161 Intelligence Reframed by Howard Gardner Pages 162.. If one assumes that understanding is equivalent to mastery of factual materials, or if one assumes that understanding follows naturally from exposure to materials, then there is no reason to require explicit performances of understanding. But it is more likely that we have avoided assessing understanding because doing so takes time and because we have lacked confidence that we will actually find clear evidence of understanding. Thanks to hundreds of studies during the past few decades by psychologists and educators, we now know one truth about understanding: Most students in most schools, cannot exhibit appreciable understandings of important ideas. Gardner proposes three approaches Observational Approaches The first approach involves observing. The traditional institution of the apprenticeship is one example. Young apprentices spend much time with a master practitioner, observe him up close and gradually engage in the daily practices of a problem solving and product making. A children’s museum is a contemporary example to mold understanding. Students have the opportunity to approach intriguing phenomena in ways that make sense to them, they can take their time and they face no test pressures. They may bring issues with them fro home to school, to the museum and back again, gradually constructing sturdier understandings by using multiple inputs in diverse settings. These institutions can give us clues about how best to teach for understanding. Confrontational Approaches Frontal tackling of the obstacles to understanding: One comes to grips directly with one’s own misconceptions. For example, if someone habitually engages in stereotypical thinking, he can be encouraged to consider each historical event or work of art from multiple perspectives. None of these is foolproof. Teachers need to encourage understandings by pointing out inadequate conceptualizations and asking students to reflect on the consequences. Students gradually learn to monitor their own intuitive theories and thus cultivate habits of understanding. A Systematic Approach – Teaching for Understanding. Teachers are asked to state explicit understanding goals, stipulate the correlated performances of understanding, and share these perspectives with the students. Other features of this “understanding framework” include a stressing of central topics. For example: Why are there fourteen varieties of finches in the Galapagos Islands? When and how was the Final Solution arrived at? Teachers need to assess students' understanding not simply at the end of the course but through regular interim practice performances. Multiple Intelligences is most usefully invoked in the service of two educational goals. The first is to help students achieve certain valued adult roles or end-states. If one wants everyone to be able to engage in artistic activities, it makes sense to develop linguistic intelligence for the poet, spatial intelligence for the graphic artist and sculptor, movement intelligence for the dancer and musical intelligence for the composer. If we want everyone to be civil, then it is important to develop the personal intelligences. The second goal is to help students master certain curricular materials. Students might be encouraged to take a course in biology so as to better understand the development of the living world. If individuals indeed have different kinds of minds, with varied strengths, interests and strategies, then it is worth considering whether pivotal curricular materials like biology could be taught AND ASSESSED in a variety of ways. p. 167 |
| Letter to the Editor NOW FCAT BACKER; [Broward Metro Edition] Steve McCrea Fort Lauderdale. South Florida Sun - Sentinel. Fort Lauderdale, Fla.: Feb 1, 2005. pg. 16.A Document types: LETTER Section: EDITORIAL Text Word Count 94 Document URL: Abstract (Document Summary) I've been to several training workshops where public school teachers have openly criticized the test in an unbalanced way. ----------------------------------- The original letter appeared as follows: To the Editor As a certified teacher (and a former FCAT detractor), I’m thrilled that more teachers are speaking up (such as math teacher Michael Rooney, Jan. 26, “Eight in finals for annual award” p. 6B). I’ve been to several training workshops where public school teachers have openly criticized the test in an unbalanced way. I’ve started a web site (www.newfcat.com) to reflect the positive aspects of the test. I hope many more teachers will overcome (political?) bias and eventually agree that FCAT is needed because “high school seniors couldn’t write or do basic spelling.” Bravo! Steve McCrea Reading and Math Tutor Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 954.646.8246 mistermath@comcast.net Web page www.newfcat.com www.teacherstoteachers.com I received two emails in response to this letter to the editor. |