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facts behind the FCAT

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Date Issued:
2010
Summary:
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 makes schools accountable for the performance of their students, and measures that goal through standardized testing. Florida's standardized test is the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). This paper investigates how the incentive structure of the FCAT accountability system has resulted in costly unintended consequences, such as the disruption of local home prices, teaching towards the test, manipulation of the test pools, and an increase in the number of school dropouts. The State of Florida officially estimates that the cost to administer the FCAT is $19.44 per student. My claim is that the Florida Department of Education's estimate is profoundly understated because it does not take into account an array of internal and external costs associated with the test. By including these costs of the FCAT, I show that the FCAT does indeed cost more than $19.44 per student.
Title: The facts behind the FCAT.
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Name(s): Gamsey, Erin.
Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Thesis
Issuance: multipart monograph
Date Issued: 2010
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Physical Form: electronic resource
Extent: iii, 52 p. : ill.
Language(s): English
Summary: The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 makes schools accountable for the performance of their students, and measures that goal through standardized testing. Florida's standardized test is the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). This paper investigates how the incentive structure of the FCAT accountability system has resulted in costly unintended consequences, such as the disruption of local home prices, teaching towards the test, manipulation of the test pools, and an increase in the number of school dropouts. The State of Florida officially estimates that the cost to administer the FCAT is $19.44 per student. My claim is that the Florida Department of Education's estimate is profoundly understated because it does not take into account an array of internal and external costs associated with the test. By including these costs of the FCAT, I show that the FCAT does indeed cost more than $19.44 per student.
Identifier: 779341792 (oclc), 3335019 (digitool), FADT3335019 (IID), fau:1399 (fedora)
Note(s): by Erin Gamsey.
Thesis (B.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, Honors College, 2010.
Includes bibliography.
Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.
Subject(s): United States.
Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test
Achievement in education -- Florida
Educational tests and measurements -- Florida
Held by: FBoU FAUER
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3335019
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Host Institution: FAU

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