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9486 in the collection
In Florida, Child Abuse 101
Ohanian Comment: "We start them young," says the principal, and she's proud of it. This article reveals what happens when you express the major premise. When you think your job is to get your school's points up to the state's expectation, then you start school with an FCAT tip--meaning FCAT poisons every friggin' day of these children's school lives. I'd rather they start the day with prayer than with this. Me? I started every day with a riddle on the board AND good words on the board and a poem read out loud.
MARTIN COUNTY -- Once a month, the scratching of pencils on paper and an occasional cough or sneeze are the only sounds coming from every classroom at Port Salerno Elementary School.
That day, usually the second Tuesday of the month, all of the school's students take a version of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.
Even kindergartners are scribbling on FCAT writing exams.
But these exams will never make it to Tallahassee, where FCATs are graded. That's because they are only practice drills for the real thing.
Yet for Port Salerno Principal Tracey Miller they are just as important.
"They can write about two sentences. We start them young," Miller said of the kindergartners. "They'll become familiar with taking the test, so by the time they get to fourth grade and have to take the writing exam, they'll be ready and confident in themselves."
As Martin County students prepare for this year's FCAT, several schools have more at stake than usual: They're competing against the grades they earned last year.
To receive school recognition money, a school's grade must either improve or, in case of an A school, stay the same.
In Hobe Sound, Seawind Elementary, which last year dropped from an A to a B, is working to return to the top.
Every morning begins with an FCAT lesson -- either a reading or math tip -- blaring from the in-school television.
It's one of the strategies the school's new principal, Debbie Vanover, hopes will return her school to an A. Teachers also are working to identify common strengths and weaknesses within each class.
"Right now we're having the countdown to the FCAT," Vanover said. "I'm looking forward to being an A school again."
Martin County High School also is seeking an A. Last year, the school failed to improve from a B to an A and missed out on recognition money.
Martin County High principal Joan Hunt said teachers are giving more practice tests and there is more one-on-one practice time between students and teachers.
Two other schools are putting special emphasis on preparing for this year's FCAT:
In Indiantown, Warfield Elementary last year leaped from a D to a B -- and now wants to reach the top.
And Port Salerno Elementary, which scored its first A last year, wants to maintain that status.
Here's an in-depth look at how the schools are preparing for this year's FCAT.
Warfield Elementary
To overcome a string of Ds at Warfield, the school board in recent years has given a $1,375 supplement to teachers willing to commute to Indiantown. Resource teachers were added, as well as an extensive before- and after- school tutorial program.
The result was last year's B.
For third-grade teacher Tanja Koster, the grade didn't matter, but what it meant did.
"It wasn't the grade that was important, but that the students finally received the grade they earned," she said. "We knew the education -- even when we were a D -- was sound."
It's not always easy to educate Warfield students.
Though Koster has only 19 students in her room, she's handling a difficult educational challenge. Some of her students, for instance, know only Spanish, while others in the school speak only Mexican or Guatemalan dialects.
But even if they don't speak or read English, all of Koster's students must take the FCAT, which qualifies them for the fourth grade if they pass.
"They have to sit in front of the test book like everyone else and mark answers to questions they can't read," she said. "That's the most frustrating part."
The only advice she can give them in Spanish is to fill in the bubbles on the answer sheet.
"My heart goes out to those students," she said.
But Koster keeps teaching. She gives out four different levels of spelling tests a week and has just as many reading and math groups.
"We do five different things all at one time," she said. "My class is a three-ring circus."
Koster also said she holds before- and after-school FCAT reviews and finds way to turn daily routines into sample test questions. For example, last Thursday she asked the class to give her three examples of what time it was.
"12:30," said one student.
"Half past 12," another said.
"Thirty minutes to 1 p.m. Lunch time!" Miguel Bartolome, 8, cried out.
Koster said she likes to make lessons fun. However, she also worries about her students' stress.
From the first day of school the test is on the students' minds, Koster said.
"They talk about being worried about it then," she said.
Even after the answer sheets are turned in, Gloria Tapia, 8, said she'll be thinking about the test.
"Are you going to stay back or pass? That's what I'll be thinking," she said.
Port Salerno Elementary
When third-grade teacher Michelle Smith asked her students to take out their green FCAT practice books one recent morning, she was met with a unanimous reaction. "Ohhh," the class of 8-, 9-, and 10-year-olds groaned loudly.
"We'll only do one page," Smith promised.
But Smith also is persistent.
"I do a lot of review over and over again. The more they practice the more confident they'll be," Smith said.
As they worked from their FCAT reading book, where the questions are in the same format as the test, the students sat on the edge of their seats waiting to answer one of Smith's questions. When they got the answer correct, they said "Yes!" and pumped their fists in the air.
"My focus is teaching them how to read and improve their reading levels. If you teach them how to read and on grade level, you'll get through the FCAT," she said.
To help calm students and gain confidence in themselves, Principal Miller and Assistant Principal Larry Green are meeting individually with the students who are taking the exams.
The school also is hosting presenting its first FCAT pep rally on Feb. 26. Education Commissioner Jim Horne and FAU President Frank Brogan will give speeches at the rally.
There's going to be a pizza lunch for the students as well -- "to motivate them," Miller said.
Still, some students worry.
"I'm scared I'm going to get a big F," Patricia Hernandez, 9, said.
Michael Schneker's biggest concern is that he won't have enough time to finish.
"I don't go so fast," said Michael, 8. "I just go slow so I can get a 100 percent."
— Kelly Tyko
Even youngest pratice the FCAT (sic)
TCPalm.com
2004-01-18
http://www1.tcpalm.com/tcp/education/article/0,1651,TCP_1102_2585851,00.html
INDEX OF OUTRAGES
Pages: 380
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