Dive Brief:
- An executive order issued Tuesday by Florida Gov. Rick Scott shelves the requirement for the state's 11th graders to take the Florida Standards Assessment for English Language Arts.
- The command follows Scott's call last week for a decrease in state testing after an the state’s education commissioner, Pam Stewart, released an investigative report that found Florida was over-testing its students.
- Scott's executive order puts the exam on hold until the state's legislature decides on a more permanent decision.
Dive Insight:
It's probably fair to say that the 11th grade exam will not be the only test suspended in Florida. Scott seemed pretty serious last week when he said he wanted to see a reduction in the number of tests students are required to take.
It's not too surprising that this is all taking place in Florida, either. The Sunshine State has been a hotbed for test reform and pushback for quite some time now. In September, Stewart dropped testing for students in grades K-2, favoring informal assessments over the high-stakes alternatives. Prior to her decision, Florida's Lee County District decided to (temporarily) block standardized testing in the district. While the school board ultimately retracted its decision, the original move highlighted growing resistance to testing of that nature.
