WUFT News News and Public Media for North Central Florida from the University of Florida in Gainesville
FAIR testing for students in kindergarten through the second grade has been discontinued for the year.
According to a letter by Alachua County Superintendent of Schools Owen Roberts, the reading diagnostic tests, which were required to be taken three times over the course of the year, will be temporarily replaced by a basic observational sheet on each student.
Alachua County teacher Susan Bowles led the protest against the new online testing system that required teachers to sit for as long as 45 minutes with each individual student. During the testing, significant instruction time was sacrificed.
Although FAIR testing has been in place since 2009, the move to online tests was met with backlash and technical issues.
Roberts said the district would be doing a review of all testing to find possible ways to “reduce the burden on schools, teachers and students” while meeting the legal state testing requirements.
