Bradenton Herald – CHRISTINA VEIGA
“The Florida Department of Education says math tests taken by nearly 550,000 students won’t count this school year….State officials told districts to calculate final grades without the test grades. The tests are supposed to count for 30 percent of the grade. The reason for the delayed results is that a testing law passed this spring by the Florida Legislature requires an independent study of several new standardized tests. Legislators called for the study following the troubled rollout this year of new tests that are tied to standards modeled largely after Common Core…Miami-Dade PTA President Joe Gebara blamed the state for rushing forward with the new tests this year, ignoring please from parents, school boards, teachers unions and superintendents to have a trial-run first. “What counts? What doesn’t? We don’t know,” said Miami-Dade PTA President Joe Gebara. “It’s utterly disorganized and chaotic … We can’t focus on what our kids really need.””(more)