The biggest test of the year

that really means nothing to the kids future.

The Science FCAT is near.

Students take it in 5th and 8th grades. They used to take it in 11th grade, but that test has been replaced by the high school biology end of course exam.

The Science FCAT literally means nothing to the students - and a lot for school grade.

And it is very rare that any school, anywhere, does good on it.

And I don't like excuses, but it sort of makes sense.

Lets test the students once every three years and stuff they have learned for the past three years.

This stuff includes...

layers of the earth, biomes of the earth, outer space, star lifecycles, weather, the atmosphere, earthquakes, erosion, (I'm sure I'm missing some... but that is all the Earth Science I can think of), cells, cell organelles, human body systems, binomial nomenclature, classifying animals, evolution, ecosystems, interrelatedness of species, photosynthesis, cellular respiration, genetics and heredity (still sure I am missing some, but that is all the Life Science I can think of), the atom, properties of and changes in matter, electricity, magnetism, light, sound, waves, forces, motion, the periodic table, (still sure I am missing some, and I teach this, but that is all the physical science I can think of), and of course, the scientific method, how science is releavant to the real world, the important of accurate representation of data.

Oh, and lets split this up into three different years so that by the time you are tested on the topics you learned  at the beginning it has been three years since you learned about it. And lets not release anything more than a computer game based review.

Things I like about the science FCAT - it is fairly higher order thinking. Students are not recalling facts but comparing them, drawing conclusions, and making predictions.

Things I don't like about the science FCAT - it doesn't matter to the kids, and they know it.

I don't know who along the way decided to reveal our secret. But I don't like that person. I get it - kids have testing anxiety. But telling them the test doesn't matter doesn't help them! Sure they are less nervous - they don't have to care! But the problem becomes - they don't care. If they don't care, the chance they try is so much lower.

Why do we bother to give this test? Shouldn't it matter more?

And all this talk about the Next Generation Science State Standards... how are we testing for those? I know the thought is end of course exams... how about we start that now and stop wasting the money on the Science FCAT?