Manatee County began testing in earnest Tuesday, after a number of Florida school districts reported issues with the online testing system Monday. The first batch of testing was the English language arts writing portion, which was given to students in grades four through 10. A governor's executive order recently repealed the writing exam for students in grade 11.
In Manatee County, students in grades four through seven took paper and pencil versions of the exam, while the older students used online software to take the test. District officials reported no major problems with the online software although the
service was slow in the mid-morning, said Diana Greene, deputy superintendent of instruction.
"We had minimal issues with the online system," Greene said. "Of course, the paper-and-pencil test went just fine."
Greene did report a few problems, including: two students at Johnson Middle School got kicked off the system, but they were restarted without problem; Southeast High School struggled with a lab of 24 students, but they were also able to complete the test; and testing was slow at Harllee Middle School, with one screen that went to a white screen, before being fixed and students completing tests.
Some of the larger counties across the state suspended testing again Tuesday because of the technology issues, which may have helped the connected speed in Manatee.
The bulk of testing began Tuesday, although some high schools did start Monday, Greene said. The schools have a two-week period to finish the writing test and each school site is allowed to schedule the tests to get them done by March 13.
"We encourage them not to start on a Monday, but some schools are so large it's in their best interest to start right away," Greene said. Students aren't necessarily ready to test Monday, Greene said. Monday was also the first testing day and many districts reported problems while they were all trying to access the system at once.
As of the end of day Tuesday, about 18 percent of eighth-grade students, 31 percent of ninth-grade students and 13 percent of 10th-grade students had completed the test online, according to district data.
The majority of paper-and-pencil tests for students in grades four through seven were distributed Tuesday, Greene said. She said by the end of day Wednesday, the paper-and-pencil tests will probably be completed. The online tests take longer to complete because of scheduling and computer availability.
As of 4 p.m., Greene said she had not received any complaints from parents.
The essay is the first component of the new state testing.
Writing prompts are more extensive now, requiring students to read and cite from multiple passages and compose an informative or opinion essay, as opposed to writing descriptive essays in response to a simple prompt as in previous years.
The new exams replacing Florida Comprehensive Assessment Tests 2.0 are aligned with Florida State Standards -- a modification of the controversial Common Core national standards that spell out what students should know and when.
Florida standards, which include an additional set of calculus benchmarks and cursive writing requirements, apply to all subjects. Common Core principles are specific to English language arts and math.
Manatee County students have already struggled with the new, more rigorous exams. In January, the district gave end-of-course exams, a new state requirement this year, with startling results.
Officials reported students found the new math standards -- which change expectations from computation to comprehension -- and reading grade-level texts to be more difficult.
The state wants all tests done online by 2017 -- another issue hampering Manatee County and districts across the state as the technology doesn't always work.
The writing exam wasn't particularly troublesome for Christina Sket, who has a child at Rowlett Academy for Arts and Communication and one at Manatee School For the Arts. The more worrisome exams will be the English language arts and mathematics exams.
"That's the one we're hoping to stop before it starts," Sket said of putting pressure on legislators to halt the testing. "The kids are set up to fail."
Lela Hartsaw, who has two students in the school district, including a daughter who took the writing test Tuesday, said the writing tests focus on the wrong area for students. Hartsaw said students at that grade level should be focusing on the basic spelling, vocabulary and grammar skills first, instead of inferring the meaning behind a text.
"It's way more than I think a 10-year-old should be expected to do when most adults couldn't do it," Hartsaw said.
Hartsaw said she thought her daughter was well-prepared for the test, but said her daughter was stressed because she knew the weight and implication of doing well on the test.
©2015 The Bradenton Herald (Bradenton, Fla.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC
