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An appeals court has now determined that Florida parents don't have a right to see where their students are going wrong on standardized tests, but Gov. Jeb Bush shouldn't be so eager to gloat. His win comes at the expense of students who are being held back without really knowing why.

The governor portrayed his opposition to disclosing FCAT test materials as consistent with "the Department of Education's 20-year policy on test confidentiality," but that's a little disingenuous. Until four years ago, DOE never used a standardized test to grade and punish schools. Until last spring, it never used a state test of such complexity to
decide whether high school seniors could graduate. Until this fall, it never used a state test to decide whether third-graders should be promoted or retained.

Because Florida has so dramatically increased the stakes associated with one test, it owes students and teachers a better understanding of how they are performing. It also owes them better assurance that testing error didn't lead to grave consequences in their lives. . . .

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— Editorial
Fill in the Blanks
St. Petersburg Times
2003-12-01
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/12/01/Opinion/Fill_in_the_blanks.shtml

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