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Universities Say Student is College Material; FCAT is Denying Her a High School Diploma

Three universities have told Miami Edison senior Mercy Pericles she's college material.

The United States Marine Corps has told Miami Springs senior Jarvon Ward he's officer material.

A Georgia junior college has told Edison senior and Haitian immigrant Bachelor Jean Pierre he's soccer-star material.

The state of Florida labels them failures.

Pericles, Ward and Pierre are among more than 9,000 Miami-Dade and Broward high school seniors -- one in four of the entire senior class -- who today begin a last-ditch effort to pass the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test to save their high school careers.

Their future aspirations will ride on the outcome.

''Instead of trying to help us go through school, it's like they're trying to get us to drop out,'' said Pericles, who has a 3.2 GPA and acceptances to Florida International, Florida A&M and St. Thomas universities -- the last, on a full scholarship. She hasn't passed the reading portion of the FCAT.

''When I graduate I can leave for boot camp,'' said Ward, who has a 2.78 GPA and has already passed the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test. ``But if I don't get a high school diploma, I can't go. If I don't pass the FCAT, that will determine if I can go to the military or not.''

This year's seniors are the first class that must pass the 10th-grade FCAT in order to receive diplomas. The FCAT is a more difficult test than the High School Competency Test, which students had to pass to graduate prior to this year.

Critics charge the standardized test penalizes students from economically and socially stressed homes, immigrants who have spoken English only a short time, and students who might be performing adequately but simply don't test well.

''We should not let one test given on one day do harm to any one child,'' said Tom Gammon, teacher director for the United Teachers of Dade.

ESTIMATES

Nearly one in three Miami-Dade seniors -- 6,540 out of 20,956 -- haven't yet passed both portions of the FCAT. Mercedes Toural, associate superintendent for education for Miami-Dade schools, expects about 20 percent will pass their remaining sections this week. That would leave roughly 5,200 seniors unable to graduate.

Of those, Toural estimates about 85 percent -- about 4,400 seniors -- would meet all other requirements for graduation except the FCAT.

Of Broward's total senior class of 14,103, 2,623 -- about one in five -- still need to pass one or both sections of the FCAT. Broward administrators didn't provide projections, but if the Miami-Dade percentages apply, the FCAT requirement alone will prevent almost 1,800 students from graduating.

Critics fear that many students will simply drop out rather than continue attempting to pass the test after their classmates have graduated.

Broward schools superintendent Frank Till said a rigorous assessment test is necessary to make sure a student's grade-point average really reflects the student's level of knowledge. But he believes an alternative assessment should be available to allow competent students to qualify for graduation.

''For a lot of students, [the FCAT] doesn't really measure their complete learning,'' Till said. ``There are some kids who are swimming up a tough stream and are doing really well and would make it in this world, but then the FCAT jumps in their way.''

That includes students like Deiva Young, 18, and Michelle Robinson, 17, seniors at Miami-Dade's COPE Center North, an opportunity school for teen mothers.

Young has worked hard to bring up her once-poor grades since her son DaJuan Bethel was born 12 months ago. She now carries a 2.1 GPA, but fell 11 points shy of passing the mathematics portion of the FCAT. She attends FCAT preparation classes after school and on Saturdays.

If she doesn't pass this week, she said, ``I'll cry. I feel I've worked too hard and come too far, to know that I'll only get a certificate of completion. If I don't pass this test, I don't know what I'll do.''

Robinson boasts a 3.2 GPA, but still hasn't passed the reading section of the FCAT. She missed passing in October by just seven points -- while she was pregnant with daughter Dae-nitra Hester, born two weeks ago.

COPE principal Mary Richards agonizes that her teen mothers work so hard to make it only to be tripped up by a standardized test.

UP TO SIX TRIES

''They've had so many disappointments,'' Richards said. ``This kind of thing could derail them for life.''

Beginning in 10th grade, seniors have up to six tries to pass the examination. Those who fail this week get one more shot in July. But they will have missed their final chance to graduate on time with their classmates.

The FCAT makes no allowance for the many South Florida immigrant students who may have been speaking English for only a few years.

Take Abeer Alabed, a 17-year-old senior at Miami High. The Jerusalem native, whose native language is Arabic, has only been speaking English for about two years. She has a 3.0 grade-point average -- but fell 17 points shy of passing the English portion of the FCAT last time.

''The truth is there are some students who speak English perfectly and don't pass it,'' said Alabed, who hopes to become a dentist.

Edison soccer standout Pierre, an immigrant from Haiti, refuses to blame his failure to pass the reading portion of the FCAT on his language difficulties, even though he has only lived here 18 months. He has an athletic scholarship waiting for him at Georgia's Andrew College -- if he gets his diploma.

`IT'S SAD'

''Can you imagine? I've only been in this country less than two years, now I have a 3.0 GPA,'' said Pierre, who aspires to be an architect. ``Because of the FCAT, you can't go any further than that. It's sad.''

There are indications that state legislators may consider modifications to the strict FCAT requirement in the session beginning this month. One idea is to allow students who don't pass the FCAT to still qualify for community college.

''My attitude has always been that [the FCAT requirement] has flaws, but I didn't realize how bad the flaws were,'' said State Rep. Julio Robaina.



— Robert Steinback
Seniors begin a last-ditch effort to pass the FCAT
Miami Herald
March 3, 2003
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/5301697.htm

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