3-Minute Read
This newsfeed entry is for Fuller Community School…
No worries; they clean up well as they mature.
As mentioned in our school history, my son Gabriel had never taken a standardized test before high school, as we focused solely on mastering skills and did not find this often-flawed tool necessary to confirm our child was learning. We also observed that his performance on simple tests at home fluctuated depending on his mood or whatever captured his attention on any given day. However, his overall performance clearly indicated that he was excelling and unfolding beautifully at his own pace.
Upon entering high school, Gabriel’s plan from day one was to transfer into the dual enrollment program at Santa Fe College and apply for the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship. Due to our late registration to the school caused by relocation, many classes he needed to prepare for a successful transfer to Santa Fe were already full. As a result, Gabriel had no choice but to take two online courses, Spanish I and Algebra I, which can be challenging for any student but even more so for a student with a 504 plan. He completed a total of nine classes: six at school, two online, and tennis, which fulfilled the physical education credit for that year, and he earned straight A’s. He also played the violin in the school orchestra. In short, his first full-time year in public school was intense, but ultimately, he was on track for the dual enrollment program- well, at least we thought.
He joined the school orchestra after picking up the violin during the pandemic.
Before dual enrollment, he took all honors classes in 10th grade and joined the AP Capstone program. At the beginning of the school year, he scored 350, which was a sufficient score on the new Florida Assessment of Student Thinking (FAST) test for reading. He placed at the college level in the English and Reading portions of the college Program Evaluation Review Technique (PERT). In the last month of school, he was scheduled to retake the FAST to assess the skills he gained over the year. However, he was not informed that the test also served as a new requirement for the dual enrollment program. His score dropped a few points from the beginning of the year. As a result, Gabriel was told he would not qualify to attend Santa Fe College and would have to remain in high school another year until he improved his score, or he could sit for the final SAT or ACT offering for this year, which was coming in two weeks, that could potentially replace the FAST score.
This was unacceptable! We presented Gabriel’s situation to the administration and asked the school to intervene and waive the final FAST score. However, it felt like talking to a wall, as they didn’t seem interested in grasping the bigger picture. Perhaps Gabriel’s track record was insignificant to them. He was clearly at or above grade level. He should have qualified for an exemption since the FAST failed to accurately reflect his skills and abilities, having already achieved college level on three other assessments.
Unfortunately, the school viewed Gabriel merely as a number. It was completely willing to penalize a straight-A student enrolled in AP and honors classes, with a 504 plan, who sometimes underperforms on tests for various reasons, leaving him feeling like a failure. Not only were they unhelpful, but they also knew it was too late to apply for and expedite Individual Education Plan (IEP) services, which could have waived this test for him if the team had been stacked in his favor. Let me reiterate – if the team had been stacked in his favor. (I used to sit on the other side of that table writing IEPs.) To add insult to injury, Gabriel would be placed in a remedial reading class the following year.
In desperation, we tried to register for the SAT and pay the late fee, but, of course, the session was full. He was left with no choice but to register and pay the late fee for the ACT. With high school final exams hanging over his head, there was no time for Gabriel to study for the ACT in hopes of boosting his score. They really let him down; he also had to forgo a well-deserved international hiking trip scheduled for the first two weeks of June to sit for the test. Doesn’t the Bible say, “Do not provoke teenagers?”
Feeling like a failure and defeated by the system, Gabriel took the test under immense emotional stress, completing it over two days due to his accommodations. I told him that if he didn’t score high enough, I would pull him from public school and register him as a homeschooled student, allowing him to bypass state testing requirements and still enter the dual enrollment program. He wasn’t too fond of the idea because he hoped for a Buchholz diploma and believed he deserved one. To comfort him and alleviate his distress, I explained that once you have an A.A. degree, no one cares whether you have a traditional high school diploma since the A.A. supersedes the high school certificate. Still, from a teenager’s perspective, he wanted that symbol of achievement.
He crushed it!
Well, Gabriel didn’t just pass the ACT reading with the minimum score of 19 needed for college readiness. He smashed it! He crushed it with a 28, all without any additional preparation or special tutoring, as he only had days to prepare for this test. It’s also worth noting that most students don’t take this test until their junior or senior year. This placed Gabriel in the above-average range for reading.
I hope you can see that something is seriously wrong with this picture! I can only imagine how many students, especially minority students, have missed their goal of dual enrollment simply because state testing weighed so heavily on their future without considering the bigger picture of overall performance. What if we didn’t have the resources to cover the test cost, which is usually free for students during the school year? (Somebody needs to issue Gabriel a refund or credit.) If we didn’t know how to navigate the system and jump through hoops, Gabriel would still be sitting in the class at Buchholz, frustrated and taking a remedial reading class.
In the end, he got a glimpse of reality. He learned that sometimes your dreams can still be snatched even after you have worked your ass off and that the world could care less about your need for accommodations. The system will have you rolling up in a wheelchair, trying to get in the door, and will have the audacity to tell you, “You’ll have to apply for additional accommodations before we can install a ramp. I’m sorry, but we can do nothing to help you.”
Sher!
(Make sure you visit our homepage. Sit in stillness with your eyes closed for 15 minutes a day. I promise it will transform your life!)
