Florida’s New Testing: Is it the B.E.S.T.?
Rather than the typical end-of-year Florida Standard Assessments (F.S.A.) testing, the students across the state are now participating in a shorter “progress monitoring assessment,” called the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking (F.A.S.T.), thrice a year: in the fall, winter, and spring. These exams will now align with Florida’s new Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking (B.E.S.T.) standards.
Along with the shorter exams, the exam results are expected to have shorter turn-around times as well. According to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, “Now by law, the fall and winter results must be provided to teachers within one week and parents within two weeks, which allows rear wheel time intervention before it’s too late.”
Students more accompanied to the old F.S.A. testing should expect less pressure to perform well on the F.A.S.T. exams throughout the year, since they are simply designed to check progress rather than total knowledge of the course. In addition, although these tests will not diminish the number of exams students will take during the duration of the school year, students in the St. Johns County School District will no longer take the district’s midterm and final exams for courses that do not have any F.A.S.T. progress monitoring exams.
By: Payton Logan
More Information:
https://www.fldoe.org/accountability/assessments/k-12-student-assessment/best/
