Florida’s accountability system is broken. Due to its hasty construction, a third of the questions for third-grade reading are not directly aligned to the standards they are supposed to measure. A lapse in the test construction process, moreover, failed to tie the complexity of the test questions to the proficiency levels being assessed. This FSA is not criterion referenced, according to the Alpine validity study. It does not tell students what they know and can do. The new Florida Standards Assessment yields test scores that have no meaning.
Test scores have consequences. Students are placed in remediation. Teachers’ salaries are impacted. Schools are labeled.
