Passing The 3rd Grade FCAT Just Got Harder
How You Can Make The Difference

In 2011, Florida changed the 3rd Grade FCAT to require more critical thinking skills.

For 2012, Floria changed the 3rd Grade FCAT scoring in subtle and very signficant ways.

The headlines in the press read that the percent of students failing the 3rd grade FCAT will increase from 16 to 18%.

The headline should have read

43% of 3rd Graders will face

Retention or Remediation

Percent of Students Failing 3rd Grade FCAT will go From 16 to 18%

Percent of Students Requiring Remediation will go From 12 to 25%

Total Percent of Students Impacted will increase from 28 to 43%

You may have or are about to received a letter from your child's school warning that your child is at risk for retention or remediation.  To clarify the picture:

The 3rd Grade FCAT scoring is as follows:

-   Level 1   Failing - mandatory retention unless other criteria are met

-   Level 2   Below Grade Level -- mandatory remediation

-   Level 3   Grade Level

-   Level 4   Above Grade Level

-   Level 5   Well Above Grade Level

 

Five Reasons Smart Students Struggle With The FCAT.  They have

  • Difficulty with the wording of the questions and understanding the concepts

  • Problems sustaining attention, especially for a 70 minute test

  • A tendency to skip words and lines when reading

  • Test anxiety

  • Been subjected to testing, drilling, and more testing and drilling, without getting to the root causes of the problem

Based on 10 years of experience with the 3rd Grade FCAT

The question you might want to consider is ...

What can I do to avoid retention and/or  the need for remediation for my child and to get reading comprehension and FCAT scores to grade level or above?

 

 

What Makes 3D Learner So Effective at Improved

Reading Comprehension, 3rd Grade FCAT Scores and More

We recognize that most students who struggle with the FCAT are hands-on learners, who will do far better if they are taught to their strengths and engaged in the process.  Many of the key words and concepts on the test are difficult to understand, repetition only yield marginal results, and they need an approach that words for them

Rather than working on words or concepts through the "drill and kill" approach, we work in clay. This allows our students to really visualize the word, the meaning and what the questions ask.

We assess for and address attention, anxiety and visual processing issues.  W realize that only a fraction of our students have ADHD, a significant anxiety issue or a visual processing issue that would require medical intervention, but we do know that virtually every child, and certainly those trying to improve their 3rd Grade FCAT scores would benefit from:

-   Improved attention.  We use the Interactive Metronome (R) and Brain Gym (R) exercises that work well whether your child has ADHD or not.

-   Learning how to be calmer, more confident and able to rebound when they hit something they do not understand.  We have had 3rd graders whose heart rate increased from 80 or 90 to 140 and in one case 150, when we just mentioned the word FCAT - can you imagine what their heart rate goes to before and during the 3rd Grade FCAT.

-   Improved visual tracking.  Skipping words and lines when reading often happens, and it gets much worse with visual fatigue that can often happen with a 70 minute test.

At 3D Learner, we are offering three Parent Briefings at 3 different times, where we will explain the changes that have occurred, why your child might be at risk, and how you can make the difference with both Free Tips and with the 3D Learner Program (R) Options.  Our Parent Briefings will be on:

Tuesday evening                January 17th at our Boca Raton Office

Wednesday morning          January 18th at our Boca Raton Office

Wednesday evening          January 18th via an on-line webinar

You may want to view 3D Learner in action as captured by CBS and learn what other parents have to say.

If this sounds like your child, click here for a Free Learning Survey and call us at 561-361-7495 for a Free Consult and to arrange to join us for our Make The Difference Parent Briefing.

Call now—there is no time to waste!

561-361-7495

"The results of your program were spectacular", M Jacobs Parkland

"You helped my son to dramatically improve his FCAT scores and changed his life" K Stein, Boca Raton

We strongly recommend both parents join us.  Parents of 2nd and 3rd graders are welcome as are others. 

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