End of Course Algebra & 10th Grade FCAT Changes

What Can a Parent Do?

Florida Today published an article on December 19th about the impact of the new rules on students taking the 10th grade FCAT, titled "Proposed FCAT Standards will have a profound impact on schools".  While this is true, we believe the proposed FCAT standards will have a profound impact on students.

This article is for parents of students taking the 10th grade FCAT and/or specifically for those taking the End of Course Algebra exam who want to make the difference.

The Department of Education Response to the challenges that kids may face, made the hair on the back of my neck stand up and scream.

Deputy Education Commissioner Kris Ellington noted that if students don't pass the exam in the 10th grade, they still have two more years to try. She said the goal is to reduce college remediation rates.

At 3D Learner, we strongly favor higher standards, but believe it is quite unfair to fail students first, and later try to address the issue.

3D Learner was born when a school official told our daughter she was not college material.  "I developed the 3D Learner Program (R) to help my daughter", says Mira Halpert M.Ed., "and I became ...

A mom on a mission!!!

and Julie improved her reading comprehension 4.2 grade levels in 7 months and never had to worry about an FCAT or FCAT like test ever again"

The challenge for a parent is that the new rules are set to take effect immediately.  That means many more students are at-risk for failing the all important End of Course Algebra Exam.  What can parents do?

For Algebra, there are five different challenges we have seen that signficantly impact even the brightest students.

Student oftenstruggle with Algebra for the following reasons:

1)   Learn differently.  They often have problems with:

      -   The questions that are worded in a tricky way

      -   They do not understand some of the concepts. For many students Algebra is like a foreign language

2)   Difficulty paying attention for long periods of time.  Some may have ADHD, but most smart struggling students just have difficulty paying attention to that which is boring or frustrating.  Algebra can be both boring and frustrating to a teenager who just does not get it.

3)  Test Anxiety. Students often tense up before the test and it gets worse when they hit a problem they cannot handle.

4)  Processing speed.  Most struggling students process the whole picture versus the words -- this takes longer.  On timed tests like the Algrebra End of Course Exam, the combination of test anxiety and/or processing speed challenges causes major challenges

5)  Skipping words and lines when reading -- sometimes called tracking issues.

What 3D Learner does that is far different than most is:

-   We assess for learning differences, attention, anxiety, processing speed and tracking issues

-   We teach the way our students learn

-   We address the attention, test anxiety, processing speed and tracking issues, where appropriate.

Our approach to the EOC Algebra Exam is far different than most.  We focus on a hands-on approach that helps your child to first understand what they are doing, to learn how to check their work and finally to keep improving their Algebra skills so passing the EOC Algebra Exam is relatively easy.

Call us at 561-361-7495

for a Free Consult