Sydney Smoot, a fourth grader at Brooksville Elementary, shared her strong opinions on standardized testing with members of the Hernando County School Board at their regular meeting on March 17, 2015.
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IJ Reviewreports:
Sydney Smoot, a fourth grader at Brooksville Elementary in Florida, had some harsh words for the Hernando County School Board earlier this month on the state’s restrictive standardized testing program.
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She told the board:
“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.”
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Smoot even provided the board with suggestions for how to make the testing process – known as The Florida Standards Assessment Test – more productive, such as breaking the larger test up into smaller, more frequent tests throughout the year.
“Why should we have so much stress about one test when we should be learning and having fun at school?” she asked.
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Pretty amazing little girl who’s going to go far in life!
