MIAMI-DADE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS ELIMINATES 24 TESTS

Miami-Dade County Public Schools will administer 24 fewer tests this year, following a preliminary review of the District’s testing program. The Miami-Dade School Board and Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho recently addressed concerns over the amount of testing students are faced with each year by calling for a comprehensive review of Florida’s testing program. After conducting an internal review to identify redundancy in state required/endorsed exams traditionally administered in Miami-Dade, Superintendent Carvalho has authorized adjustments to the District’s testing calendar that will result in fewer tests and up to 260 minutes of additional class time – depending on a student’s grade level. All adjustments were made within the parameters of state and federal requirements and existing resources. Superintendent Carvalho recently penned a position paper calling for reasonableness in assessment practices and statewide accountability.

“This action should bring relief to parents and educators who have been concerned over the excessive amount of tests students face and the time those tests take from valuable classroom instruction,” said Superintendent of Schools Alberto M. Carvalho. “This local action will hopefully result in a more in-depth examination by the State over its required testing program.”

“The Board and I celebrate alongside the Superintendent the restoration of critical instructional time back to students and teachers with this prudent elimination of 24 assessments,” said School Board Chair Perla Tabares Hantman.

The review has resulted in the following changes to the testing calendar:

• In addition to District Baseline assessments that were decommissioned earlier this school year, separate Fall and Winter administrations of the Interim Assessments have been cancelled.
• Instead, one Mid-Year Assessment (MYA) will be administered.
• English Language Arts and Mathematics MYAs will be administered before Winter Break.

• Science and Social Studies MYAs will be administered beginning in January.
  
  
• Grades K-8 FAIR-FS has been cancelled for the second and third administration periods (AP2 and AP3). 

• i-Ready, a diagnostic assessment that is already in use, will be administered to fulfill progress monitoring requirements in grades 3-8.

• i-Ready unlike FAIR-FS in grades K-2, is a computer based diagnostic that does not require one-on-one teacher/student administration. 

• Grades 9 – 12 FAIR-FS administration will remain as originally scheduled.

• To students, this represents less time spent testing, and more time available for instruction.  (See table below)

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