Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recently announced that the state will eliminate primary statewide standardized tests in public schools at the end of the current school year.
According to DeSantis, progress monitoring will replace Florida Standards Assessments (FSA).
The FSA was initially implemented to help Florida students succeed by measuring education gains and progress. However, one of the main concerns with the FSA was the fact that students who took the test at the end of the year failed to receive feedback until the summer, which prevented effective remediation efforts.
On the other hand, progress monitoring would be much more effective and provide the same type of information and feedback provided by FSA in a shorter period. Additionally, it would be conducted more often.
According to DeSantis:
“Under this new approach, three administrations of progress monitoring,” he explained. “This will take hours, not days, and it will reduce overall testing time dramatically. Now, by law, the fall and winter results will be provided to teachers within one week and parents within two weeks which allows real-time intervention before it’s too late. Parents can reinforce classroom learning at home. …”
The decision to do away with FSA was hailed by Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran, who called FSA “antiquated.” The Florida Education Association, the state’s largest teachers’ union, also supported the move.
Florida has implemented various measures in recent years to improve public education throughout the state. According to the latest Education Week rankings last year, Florida was ranked number three for K-12 achievement.
Mr. Hakim is an attorney and columnist. His articles have been published in The Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller, The Federalist, American Thinker, and other online publications. He is also a regular guest on OANN’s Tipping Point.
