Trust Us, You Need to Change This

On the off chance Florida’s Department of Education might be listening, we offer this advice:

Today, Florida Education Commissioner, Pam Stewart, unveiled a revamped student score report for Florida State Assessment (FSA) results. It is meant to make more clear exactly what a Level 1 through Level 5 score represents,  on the assumption that parents will feel better about the test if they just understood the results a little better.

As noted in this Tampa Bay Times article, State Board of Education members praised the changes.

“I am so grateful to see this,” said member Rebecca Fishman-Lipsey. “It is a great step forward in terms of us saying what it is we mean.”

As parents, we ask that you take a step backwards and really look at that report.

To parents, this looks like our child’s face has been replaced by their test score.  This will, most definitely, NOT quiet the cry of “my child is more than a score”. It WILL, most definitely, confirm to millions that the DOE, and the BOE, looks at our children and sees little more than their test scores. This, we hope, is NOT what the DOE wants to portray.

Already jokes on Facebook are suggesting that these “photos” could be used in yearbooks or for student IDs. One woman suggested the only thing more offensive would be if the child’s head had been replaced by a dollar sign.

Seriously, if ANYONE from the DOE or BOE is reading this… Trust us… You need change to this.