Sue Scheff: FCATs start today in Florida – Could Facebook and Video Games be the cause of a decline in grades?

If you live in Florida and have children that attend public school, the FCAT‘s (Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test) is part of public school testing. The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test® (FCAT) is part of Florida’s overall plan to increase student achievement by implementing higher standards. The FCAT, administered to students in Grades 3-11, consists of criterion-referenced tests (CRT) in mathematics, reading, science, and writing, which measure student progress toward meeting the Sunshine State Standards (SSS) benchmarks.

The Sun-Sentinel reports Education experts say the drop-off can be attributed to many things – a progressively more difficult test, students’ backgrounds and a decreased focus on teaching students to read in upper grades.

Then there are the distractions, such as playing video games or connecting with friends on Facebook.

The numbers tell the story. Only four of Broward’s 32 high schools had at least 75 percent of students reading at grade level in the past five years, according to a Sun Sentinel analysis of FCAT reading scores. That’s compared with 98 of 140 elementary and 23 of 41 middle schools.

Overall in Broward, 37 percent of 10th-graders and 57 percent of eighth-graders scored a 3 or higher on last year’s state reading test. Broward’s eighth-graders performed slightly higher than the statewide average of 54 percent, while 10th-graders mirrored the statewide figures.

Parents need to get involved. They need to learn how to set boundaries and simply unplug from the distractions. Struggling students also might have a problem getting motivated to take tests, parents need to encourage their children and help them to understand the importance of education.

Source: Sun-Sentinel

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