The Real Mr. Fitz: FCAT Writing Scores: Hand-Wringing Over a Lame Duck Test

I began the series with this strip, because it is very difficult to emphasize how much the up and down, mercurial nature of the scores and scoring of these standardized tests harms morale among teachers and students. The passing score used to be a 3, then it became a 3.5 (one scorer gives the paper a 3, the other a 4), then it became a 4 to raise standards, and because they went to only 1 scorer instead of 2 to save money, so 3.5 no longer existed as a score. When they went back to two scorers this year, they kept the cut score at 4 instead of 3.5-- at least initially. The system seems designed to keep teachers and students uncertain, unsure of their footing, and never quite feeling like they're doing enough.

FCAT Writing time is the only time I really crunch numbers, because those numbers help me justify what I do: get better scores by not focusing on the test.