Seminole County School Board member Amy Lockhart wants to make it clear – she’s not happy at all with the new testing system in place in Florida schools.
She sent a letter to lawmakers, asking them to consider shelving the test.
“We want to give our students fair, accurate grades based on a test that’s valid,” said Lockhart.
And Lockhart said the Florida Standards Assessment, or FSA, now in place to grade students for this school year has not yet been proven.
“Until this Florida Standards Assessments test can be independently validated, we’re asking for a little freeze-frame. We’d like to pause, if we could, and hold harmless our teachers, students and our schools from the results of a test that we quite frankly don’t know if it is psychometrically valid,” said Lockhart.
Lockhart said school board members can’t see the test. Neither can parents. And she said teachers are afraid to criticize it.
“Our teachers want very much to share their story, but unfortunately under threat of revocation of their teacher certificates, they’re kind of in the shadows right now,” said Lockhart.
And that’s why Lockhart is voicing her concerns, hoping Florida lawmakers will listen. She suggests students be assessed using other tests already in place, like the SAT and ACT, until the Florida Standards Assessment can be further evaluated.
Lockhart said she’s closely following bills working their way through the Florida legislature right now that are aimed at improving standardized assessment tests in Florida.