Central Florida 100 responses, October 28, 2015
100 of Central Florida’s most influential people weigh in on current events. Read their thoughts on the biggest stories of the week and see what they think will make headlines next week. Kathleen Oropeza, co-founder, FundEducationNow.org, will be submitting weekly thoughts.
Last week:
President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan made a stunning contradiction by announcing that obsessive high stakes tests are harming our public school children. Just like the Florida Legislature, Federal policies have doubled down on the punitive accountability aspects of No Child Left Behind. Switching to fewer tests mirrors Florida’s recent cap but offers zero relief from the high stakes. According to the US DOE Testing Action Plan, the test and punish status quo remains. This too little, too late tactic smacks of political desperation. The last thing Florida students need from Washington is more of the same.
Looking ahead:
This week the Florida Board of Education is holding three workshops to set arbitrary pass/fail cut scores for the troubled 2015 Florida Standards Assessment. Members openly advocate for setting the bar so high, students get a “cold shower,” causing a possible 60% fail rate and the immediate transformation of 30% or more schools into Ds and Fs. The BOE’s effort is 100% arbitrary. It matters not whether they set cut scores high or low, the net result is blatant data manipulation for political purposes. The public has lost all trust in the process. Expect a rocky road.
Read full article here.
