Sydney Smoot bravely faced the Hernando County School Board on March 17, 2015 to share how she felt about the Florida Standards Assessment Tests. Sydney believes it’s failing both students and teachers.
“This testing looks at me as a number. One test defines me as either a failure or a success through a numbered rubric. One test at the end of the year that the teacher or myself will not even see the grade until after the school year is already over. I do not feel that all this FSA testing is accurate to tell how successful I am. It doesn’t take in account all of my knowledge and abilities, just a small percentage.” — Sydney Smoot
Standardized testing has been under scrutiny for a long time. Many argue that it affects how teachers structure their courses and that teachers spend more time teaching kids to pass tests than making sure that they get a rounded education.