TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — An emergency order issued Friday takes some of the pressure off Florida students after another year of uncertainty and stress associated with the global pandemic.
Florida Department of Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran issued an emergency order to help with the "expanding [of] statewide testing windows."
Emergency Order 2021-EO-02 will leave it to local school districts and schools to make "the important decisions on graduation, promotion school grades and improvement ratings."
According to the seven-page order, a student's test scores won't be held against them in ways seen in years past.
For example, a senior expected to graduate this Spring will not be dependent on the score of a state test in order to do so.
Districts will be given the discretion to determine promotion decisions, extend deadlines to earn qualifying test scores for academic scholarships and forgive volunteer hour requirements.
According to Corcoran's order, students who have yet to earn academic scholarships like Bright Futures, Florida Gold Seal Vocational Scholars, or Florida Gold Seal CAPE Scholars award now have until December 1, 2021, to earn the required test scores.
Also, under this order, a student can be promoted to the fourth grade regardless of having an English Language Arts assessment score or a Level 2 or higher assessment score. Instead, decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis.
READ MORE HERE: Florida Education Commissioner: Student promotion, high school graduation will not rely on state assessment scores this year
The seven-page order also gives school districts some breathing room by allowing districts to waive school grades for the second year in a row unless they want to opt-in because school leaders are eager to remove them from "turnaround status", which indicates a low-performing school.
WHAT ABOUT TEACHERS?
While students and districts get to decide if they want their 2021 scores to count or not, the emergency order makes no mention of teachers.
The Florida Education Association was quick to issue a statement Friday saying:
"The new order lifts a heavy burden from our students. It’s only right that they should be exempt from dire consequences when they take standardized tests this spring. This has not been a normal school year, and a test should not cost kids the chance to graduate or be promoted. However, teachers did not get the same kind of consideration. Test scores still will be allowed to impose very real costs on them through their evaluations. The educators who have served Florida’s students throughout the pandemic also deserve to be shown some grace. They have faced unprecedented challenges this school year."
Stephanie Yocum was a math teacher just a few years ago and is now President of the Polk Education Association. Yocum believes the order sets teachers up to fail.
"Immediately my teacher brain started working, and if kids know something doesn’t count, let’s see how much effort they put into it," explained Yocum, who fears teachers will be judged by a test that doesn't count for anyone else.
Yocum explained that teacher bonuses, what subject you teach, what grade level, and which school you're assigned are all determined by standardized test scores.
"While we understand them wanting to use testing to collect data and see where kids are, that should be the only reason we are testing this year," said Yocum.
10 Tampa Bay reached out to the Florida Department of Education about the impacts of 2021 standardized tests on teachers. We'll update this story when we hear back.
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