As a parent, you may be incredibly frustrated with the FCAT -- Florida's High Stakes Tests.
16% of the 3rd graders failed the 3rd grade FCAT
28% failed the 10th grade FCAT
What is scary is that many smart kids from great families are failing the FCAT.
For students with Dyslexia, a Learning Disability or ADHD, the challenges are even greater.
We
have seen people argue for boycotting the FCAT or Dumping The FCAT --
and many parents focused on helping their child succeed.
As parents and professionals, we believe it is important to focus on three things:
- Helping
students with Dyslexia, a Learning Disability and ADHD to succeed --
these children are really struggling and they need parents,
school-based professionals and outside professionals to help them
succeed.
- Dumping
The FCAT Culture. A classic case was when a friend of ours, who was
using a game to help her students improve their spelling, was pulled
aside by her principal and told that was not in the FCAT Curriculum and
should be discontinued. The FCAT has real value, but the culture it
has created is counterproductive:
- The
Broward School Board is proactively trying to change the culture -- but
the teachers and principals are paid on FCAT results. The system has to
be changed.
- Teachers estimate that as much as 30% of the school year is focused on FCAT Preparation - to what end.
- Kids
with Dyslexia, a Learning Disability and ADHD are subjected to a tricky
test with incredible pressure, and they tend to do poorly.
- Colleges are complaining that Florida students do not have the skills to do well in college and in life.
- Too many kids with Dyslexia, a Learning Disability and ADHD are not given the help and the accommodations they need.
We need a Parent Revolution to Change The FCAT Culture
We need to examine ways to Dump The FCAT culture. To join the effort, visit http://www.dumpthefcat.org/index.html Parent Revolution to Change The FCAT Culture
We believe there is a real need to encourage better teaching and truly engages our kids. Two examples:
Professor
Dykstra, Mark's Business Law Professor, came in dressed like he worked
at McDonald's, to give his annual Hamburger lecture on Specific
Performance -- a legal term related to the need to deliver on what is
promised. His use of his chef's costume, a spatula, and his humorous
approach made the lesson stick -- and was both memorable and effective.
A
teacher trying to get her students to remember the Allies in World War
1, took the word allies, then used the word allied, created a visual
of an Allied Van lines truck on FIRE
F-rance
I-taly
R-ussia
E-ngland
These non-traditional and effective approaches are very effective and need to be nurtured and duplicated.
We
need to find ways to reward those innovating professionals who engage
their students, get great results, and are especially good at helping
children with Dyslexia, a Learning Disability, and/or ADHD.
Share your great ideas at mark@dumpthefcat.org.
We are Mira and Mark Halpert. Mira has her Masters Degree in Education and
developed the 3D Learner Program, first to help our smart struggling
daughter, and now to help students who often have Dyslexia, a Learning
Disability and/or ADHD. Mark is an activist who wants to help kids
succeed and the culture changed to both help kids succeed and to give
teachers and other professionals the freedom to teach, and improve
results, with a system that combines the focus on the students and
builds in accountability. Visit our Dump The FCAT Culture effort, or visit Parents Make The Difference e-mail your ideas to mark@dumpthefcat.org or call us at 561-361-7495