SCHOOLS

Florida gets millions to devise new student assessment tests

Florida is among 26 states that will receive $170 million in federal education aid to help develop a new standardized assessment system.

BY CARLI TEPROFF

CTEPROFF@MIAMIHERALD.COM

Florida is part of a consortium of 26 states that will receive a total of $170 million in federal funding to help develop new tests to assess students' mathematics and language arts skills, the U.S. secretary of education announced Thursday.

The money is on top of $700 million the state will receive for being selected as a winner in the federal government's second round of the Race to the Top competition.

``Done right, with appropriate local teacher and leader input, the outcome of the grant investment could be very positive,'' said Miami-Dade Superintendent Alberto Carvalho. ``The idea is for there to be less of a reliance on a single high stakes accountability test.''

As part of the Race to the Top competition -- which allowed states to compete for money to fund innovative approaches to education -- states were also encouraged to team up to develop new ways to measure yearly student growth, provide teachers with feedback and move beyond limited information bubble exams. The exams are expected to be ready by the 2014-15 school year.

``As I travel around the country, the number one complaint I hear from teachers is that state bubble tests pressure teachers to teach to a test that doesn't measure what really matters,'' Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in a news release. ``Both of these winning applicants are planning to develop assessments that will move us far beyond this and measure real student knowledge and skills.''

Two partnerships -- the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), of which Florida is a part, and the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) -- were selected to receive a total of $330 million.

In addition to Florida, PARCC is made up of Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Mississippi, North Dakota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Its goal is to be able to test a student's ability to read complex text, complete research projects, excel at classroom speaking and listening assignments and work with digital media.

There will no longer be one end-of-year high stakes accountability test, such as the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. Instead there will be a series of assessments throughout the year that will be averaged into one score.

The approach used by the SBAC, of which Florida is not a member, is to use computer adaptive technology that will ask students tailored questions based on their previous answers. While there will still be one test at the end of the year for accountability purposes, there will be a series of interim tests to monitor a students' progress.

Florida Education Commissioner Eric J. Smith said in an e-mail that it has been ``a great experience working with our partner states on this truly groundbreaking project.''

``I can't emphasize enough the significance of this effort which will produce a high quality assessment system allowing for cross-state and international comparisons using standards that are nationally benchmarked,'' he said. ``I look forward to beginning this important work which will ensure our students are on track to graduate prepared and ready to move on to college or career.''

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