Florida Alert: Stop the Florida Board from Raising Graduation Test Requirements

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Wednesday, May 16, 2018 the Florida State Board of Education will meet and vote on two items that if passed will be harmful to Florida students:

  1. Raising the concordant scores required to graduate.
  2. Eliminating the Postsecondary Education Readiness Test (PERT) as an acceptable alternative to the state test for graduation.

The Board is saying they haven’t heard from many Florida parents, so they are claiming that  this must not be an issue of concern – help prove them wrong by contacting them today.

We ask that you share your concerns on the first item “6A-1.09422 Statewide, Standardized Assessment Program Requirements” by clicking here and submitting your comments. (https://web02.fldoe.org/rules/Default.aspx)

A great summary of the effects of this rule change can be found in this editorial by Duval County School Board Chairman Paula Wright. Here are some key points Ms Wright makes:

  • PERT costs about $1 per attempt, but the SAT/ACT tests, which would be the only alternative graduation tests, cost about $60 per attempt, thus disadvantaging those with lower incomes.
  • Although PERT will not be available to public school students, private school and voucher students will be able to use PERT scores to take Dual Enrollment classes at the public’s expense. It should be noted that students who use tax credit vouchers to attend private schools have no testing or accountability requirements for graduation.
  • In addition to eliminating PERT, the Board is considering raising the matching score needed to graduate by another 50 points on the SAT. If students take the ACT option, they would need concordant scores in both the reading and English, instead of just the reading as it currently stands.

At the end of the day, we have to ask why this Board continues to push an agenda that would raise the scores necessary to graduate to the point that the concordant scores are actually above what is considered ‘proficient’ in both the Algebra 1 EOC and the 10th grade ELA.

The students who rely on these concordant scores don’t generally test well on the state’s flawed assessments.  Without the current concordant scores and option to use the PERT, many Florida students will be denied a high school diploma.

Act NOW! Tell the state board to leave concordant scores where they are, and leave the PERT alternative in place by clicking here and submitting your comments (https://web02.fldoe.org/rules/Default.aspx) on the first item.

You must act now!