Description

Federal legislation, specifically No Child Left
Behind (NCLB), has been the driving force for
determing annual assessments in today''s public
schools. Since 1998, the Florida Comprehensive
Assessment Test (FCAT) has been administered in all
Florida public schools. This was predicated some
twenty years earlier when Florida became the
nation''s first state to require students to pass a
test for graduation. The increased use of this
standardized test served as a catalyst for the
designation of school grades in 1999 in which they
are based primarily on students'' achievement data
from the FCAT. School grades communicate to the
public how efficient and effective schools are
performing. Florida clearly leads the way in
measuring student achievement, primarily through the
measure of student learning gains; however, school
grades have continued to receive highly publicized
attention relative to student achievement. This
analysis could mean that changes in educational or
athletic policies are likely in Florida and other
states, as they continue to struggle with meeting
requirements mandated by NCLB.