The dreaded FCAT is coming up...are our students really prepared?

This week has been a bit stressful. As i revisit lessons with students and do my best to prepare them for this test I think about how it could change not only their next year in school, but also the next year of funding and academic requirements for the school itself. What happens if my students do not pass? They do not get to go on to the next grade? They are forced to sit through remedial classes? Their school loses funding? If they do not pass, am I the one responsible?

The students I teach come from different grades and we work in small groups for 30 minute intervals throughout the day. We work exclusively on specific skills every day. The main problem that I have observed is students are taught a strategy/skill. They practice that strategy/skill for one class period and then do homework on that strategy/skill. The next day they come to school and there is no time for review because teachers are forced to barrel through curriculum to cram it all in before FCAT. Are standardized tests rushing education, therefore making it less effective in the short and long term for students? How can this be remedied?

I do not have many solutions for this problem. The fact that many students do not test well makes me think there should be much less emphasis on the results of the FCAT. I also think that moving tests like FCAT to the end of the school year would help with the problem of teaching 10 months of curriculum in 8 months or less. There should be time for review and time for big ideas to be explored and practiced. I do see some good changes. Standards have been rewritten to include going more in depth on concepts and changing which grades cover which concepts. Even the FCAT has been re-written for next year. I look forward to seeing what it will look like. Until then, I guess we can just work hard and hope we have prepared our students to pass with flying colors (or at least with passing grades).