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Standardized tests causing concern for some parents

Posted at 7:53 PM, May 25, 2018
and last updated 2018-05-25 19:53:48-04

The state released test score results for elementary school kids, Friday. If you pass the Florida State Assessment you move on to the next grade, if you fail you have more work to do. 

For more than 30 years Susan Tadlock worked as a teacher.

"I know they're a lot of pressure for the students," she said. 

Now she's a retired grandmother of two, but she says she worries about her grandkids' education.

"Our students got to have a lot of hands on experiences where they could learn through doing," she recalled. 

Tadlock says now that's not the case. She says many teachers are focused on preparing kids for the Florida State Assessment test.

"It's so much pressure that they're forgetting who they are," Kristen Dinonno said. 

For a group of moms in Stuart the answer was simple. They did not want to deal with watching their kids stress over the test so they decided to home school their kids.

"Everyday they're reminded you have to do well on this test you have to get a certain grade on this test for the school," Dinonno said. "So then they put the pressure if the kids don't do well then the school is not going to do well."

In Martin County if a student doesn't pass the standardized reading test - there are a series of options. 

The school will evaluate what’s called the “I-ready” score and if that score isn’t high enough the student would have to go to summer school to prepare for another standardized test.

But for Dinonno and her kids the process is different.

"Because we're registered with the county I just have a certified teacher come and look at the work and then as long as he's made progress then he just passes that level," she said. 

If a child doesn't pass the FSA or their "I-ready" isn't approved that is when the child could have to repeat the grade.

Check with your school district for any variations.