Since the release of the 2010 Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) test scores, Lee County Public Schools officials have been studying the data to see how our students performed. As part of that review, staff began to uncover some anomalies when it came to learning gains, especially in the area of reading.

Staff then began to talk with other districts across Florida and discovered they identified similar irregularities when reviewing their FCAT results. Monday (7/11/10,) the Florida Association of District School Superintendents (FADSS) brought together superintendents from across the state via telephone conference to discuss this as it was apparent similar anomalies were being discovered statewide.

“My staff and I have been talking with districts across Florida and we all have found some scoring inconsistencies,” said Dr. James Browder, Superintendent of Schools. “We continue to disaggregate the data to determine the level of these scoring abnormalities.”

Each year when the FCAT results are released there are “normal” fluctuations in student performance. This year, however, those fluctuations appear to be beyond the normal year-to-year differences.

These irregularities could have serious consequences when it comes to the grades earned by schools. The state’s school performance grading system includes student learning gains in reading and math, and these gains make up 50 percent of the total points earned on a school’s grade. If these learning gains are reflected incorrectly, a school would earn the wrong grade (i.e. lower than it should be.)

While Lee County Public Schools continues to review the FCAT results, Dr. Browder, along with FADSS, is requesting that the Florida Commissioner Eric Smith review the results as well in order to positively determine what may or may not have transpired in the grading of this year’s tests.