Here is an interesting letter to the editor about the science FCAT:
As a science graduate and education specialist teaching science in high school, I find myself along with other teachers arresting our science curriculum in anatomy and physiology, physics, zoology, environmental science and chemistry to help our students either learn or relearn 79 benchmark items that will appear on the 11th grade science FCAT at the end of February.
The 11th-grade science test may not yet count toward graduation, but the scores will be used to grade our schools and will permanently reside in each student’s official record.
The science FCAT tests students specifically on their content knowledge in the areas of physical and chemical science, Earth and space science, energy and motion (physics) and scientific thinking instead of progressive skills that they should have learned. The last time our students were taught Earth and space, if at all, was in the 8th or 9th grade. Yet, this test is designed for 11th graders.
I voted for Charlie Crist for governor. Educators now need him to work with us in developing a test that matches what students should know, such as biology, chemistry and physics. Parents, educators and students also need resources that will help them practice for the test, which now are in place for reading and mathematics.
The FCAT graduation requirement and the school-grade component in science need to be deferred until an appropriate measure to test students’ knowledge can be found.
as a student that is being forced to take this exam, i completely concur. I have one of the best grades in my AP (college level) Chemistry class, but have never taken physics and am shaking in my boots as a child who has never recieved less than a 5 on any fcat test (and detests this form of standardized testing), even though physics is not required for graduation. My school is telling me that if I do not pass this test, which has information which i probably do not remember, or have not been taught throughout my course placement, that i will be placed in a remedial science class, regardless of my position in the top 10% of my large class, and near the top of my chemistry class (one of the hardest classes in the school). atrocious, truly atrocious.
As a science teacher with an education degree I say follow the standards and address them all to the best teaching super powers. In my opinion I think the whole science FCAT is decent way to grade teachers at the school level. However, not effective if compared to other schools because the funding, principals, social status of students, and the district. Science it meant to be learned from labs and I have not seen many schools that prepare students for what science really is like.