Florida students will no longer be taking the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Tests, or FCAT, after the end of the current school year. The Florida Education Department awarded The American Institutes for Research a six-year, $220 million contract to create a new standardized test that will be the first incorporation of the new education benchmarks, called Florida Standards.
Commissioner Pam Stewart said she is confident this is the best choice for students and teachers.
“This assessment will measure their progress and achievement on Florida Standards, which, along with high quality instruction, will give every student the opportunity to be college and career ready.” she said.
The new test will be a language arts and math test and will require students to interact, write, and respond to the test in ways different from the FCAT. It will also include eleventh-grade exams in language arts and algebra 2 where eleventh graders previously had only writing testing under the FCAT.
Initially the tests will be offered both online and by pencil and paper, with the eventual outcome to move away from paper testing altogether.
The Florida Standards were created after opposition arose against implementing Common Core standards in Florida.
