1. Florida Standards Assessment
Pinecrest Preparatory Academy 2015

2. The Florida Standards
In February 2014, Florida State Board of Education approved a new set of state standards:
Florida Standards in Mathematics
Florida Standards in English Language Arts
These standards were developed as part of a process of continuous improvement of our education system and to raise the bar for our schools, educators and students.
For the 2014 – 2015 school year, all Florida schools have been teaching to these new Florida standards.
Pinecrest Preparatory Academy has taken steps to ensure that our teachers have access to the latest instructional and assessment materials designed to effectively teach and assess students mastery of these new standards.

3. The Florida Standards Assessment
FLDOE has contracted with the American Institutes of Research to develop and administer new statewide assessments designed to measure how well students are learning the new standards.
Testing Plan:
*indicates computer based assessment
Grade Level
FSA English Language Arts
FSA Mathematics
FSA Writing Component
FCAT Science
3rd
2 days/80 min
N/A
4th
1 day/120 min
5th
2 days/80 min*

4. The Florida Standards Testing Schedule:
Makeup days will be provided for each assessment on the school days that follow the scheduled administration
Fifth Grade students will be taking the FSA Reading and Math components of the assessment on a computer in 2 sessions over 2 days. Students will be scheduled throughout the testing window from Wednesday, April 15th to Friday, April 24th
Grade Level
Monday March 2nd
Monday March 16th
Tuesday March 17th
Wednesday April 1st
Thursday April 2nd
Monday April 13th
Tuesday April 14th
Wed. April 15th – Fri. 24th
3rd
N/A
FSA Read
FSA Math
4th
FSA Writing
5th
FCAT Science
FSA Read & Math

5. Types of items on the FSA
The FSA is comprised of test items that include:
Traditional four option multiple choice
Items that require students to type or write a response
Technology enhanced items (for 5th grade only) that allow students to interact with test content to select, construct and/or support their answers
Samples of these item types are available on the FSA portal at

6. Test Training
All students will be provided with an opportunity to become familiar with the system, functionality, and item types that will be encountered on the FSA.
All students are required to participate in a training test session at school prior to testing.
Teachers, parents and students can review the FSA computer based and paper based sample items and training tests online at:

7. Scoring and Reporting
For the first administration, students will receive two performance indicators: a T score and a percentile rank. These indicators let us know how our students performed compared to all other students who took that same test.
Achievement-level cut scores will be established based on the performance indicators and will range from Level 1 to Level 5. Level 3 indicates satisfactory performance.

8. Third Grade Requirements for Promotion
As required by the statewide public school student progression law eliminating social promotion (Section , Florida Statute), a student may be promoted to grade 4 if the student demonstrates reading mastery in one of several assessments: the Grade 3 Florida Standards Assessment (FSA); the Grade 3 Reading Student Portfolio; or another standardized reading assessment that has been approved by the FLDOE.
The FSA will be scored and students will be issued a Level from 1 – 5. In order to demonstrate reading mastery a student must score a Level 2 or higher on this assessment.
If a student does not demonstrate mastery on the Grade 3 Reading Students Portfolio and scores a Level 1 on the Reading FSA, the following additional opportunities to demonstrate reading mastery will be provided.
The Alternative Standardized Reading Assessment – administered the week of May 26th – June 5th
The Alternative Assessment for Grade 3 Promotion – administered the last week of 2015 summer reading camp
All students who have not demonstrated mastery based on one of the first 3 assessments administered will be given the opportunity to take the Alternative Assessment for Grade 3 Promotion and will be invited to attend the Summer Reading Camp provided by MDCPS.

9. What is PPA doing about the new FSA?
Pinecrest teachers have participated in several professional development opportunities designed to ensure that the New Florida Standards are being taught and mastered by their students.
Pinecrest Preparatory Academy has taken several steps to ensure that our teachers have access to the latest instructional and assessment materials designed to effectively teach and assess students mastery of these new standards.
Students who have been identified as not meeting standards have been and will continue to be provided with research based reading interventions and their progress will be closely monitored.

10. What can you do to prepare?
Visit the FSA website for the latest information about the FSA Assessment
Closely monitor your child’s academic progress and intervene early when necessary
Maintain open lines of communication with your child’s teacher
Provide support and encouragement for your children to avoid any unnecessary stress

11. Questions???