“High stakes FSA testing only adds to the number of events students will have to worry about.”

  In 2015, the mandate to pass a state-wide assessment in Florida was passed. Subsequentially, the Florida Standards Assessment (FSA) was created.

   However, as of recently, Governor Ron DeSantis has showed interest in ending the state’s largest standardized test because the test is outdated.

   In a speech, Governor Ron DeSantis stated that he wanted to eliminate any remanence of the Common Core education system in Florida. WTSP News wrote that a lot of the Common Core concepts are still in place, however, and most examples were just renamed.

   The FSA tests were also very unpopular with a lot of teachers as well. In fact, the state’s largest teacher’s union was outwardly against the test. And the FEA (Florida Education Association) also came out and said that decision to drop the FSA will give more time for teaching rather than focusing on a test.

   In the same speech, the governor announced that instead of one standardized test taken in the spring, he was going to create a system of three separate tests that are to be take in fall, winter, and spring to monitor student growth in school subjects, free up more time for learning in classrooms, and reduce costs.

   DeSantis is to enact this plan to create three separate tests instead of one central tests as he wants to do away with high stakes testing instead of standardized testing as a whole.

   However, the new tests are not intending to have high stakes. They might have some stakes attached to them and they also probably will push teachers to spend even more time trying to prepare students for three tests instead of just one test students have to take at the end of the school year. The test might in fact have some of the same stakes the current FSA has, such as teacher evaluation and student placement.

   The plan also has sparked some debate on Whether the plan is legal or not. Under the Every Student Succeeds Act, all students in grades through eight, and once in high school, must take a statewide test that records their progress in English and Math once a year and Science once in Elementary, Middle, and High School.

   As you could guess, the three tests per school year do not align with the mandated one standardized test per schoolyear. On top of that, a representative of the U.S. Education Department said that DeSantis hasn’t notified the central government about the decision.

   Ultimately, the decision to rule out the FSA will probably be a good decision and will help students succeed. On the other hand, the ruling might not be legal within the federal government’s laws and the replacement for the FSA might suffer the same consequences the current FSA is laced with.

   I think that the new test reforms will be rather advantageous. Students already have lots of stress due to end of course exams. High stakes FSA testing only adds to the number of events students will have to worry about. Three tests a year will allow a closer viewpoint on student’s educational advancement. Plus, teachers will not have to take weeks or months off their schedule to prepare students for the FSA, which will give more time for learning in classrooms.