The STAR Plan

Remember the STAR plan from an earlier post? This is the statewide bonus plan to coerce teachers into teaching only for the FCAT state test so they will get extra money for improvements and their schools will look as if they are actually teaching something. It's the carrot and stick approach. Teachers get bonuses if their students' FCAT test scores improve. Their names and student average scores are also posted in the local newspapers as an additional incentive to only teach for the FCAT test. For those of you who are not familiar with the FCAT it is a Florida basic skills test that is beyond flawed in design and concept. For instance the Science section has so many gaps in testing areas it looks like a group of deranged mental patients wrote the test. Come to think of it, the mental patients could have probably done a better job in writing this test.

If you think I am exaggerating about the coercion being forced down our throats, take a look at this email excerpt from the county that outlines the criteria for earning the bonus. Gee, you read it and tell me if you think they are pushing teachers into using the FCAT test as their syllabus for teaching. Note that 50% of the teacher assessment will be from the FCAT (The FCAT test IS our statewide standardized assessment so the 50% breakdown in part I A. simply means that of the 50% 'learning gains performance' half of that will be the FCAT scores for our specific area and half will be the school's overall FCAT reading score! It still boils down to using one lousy test, the FCAT, to judge learning gains for an entire course.) Using one flawed test to judge a class' learning gains is tantamount to lunacy, not to mention criminal neglect of basic good teaching practices. Using this test as our criteria for excellence our state will be lucky at the end of the decade if half of our graduates can read and write.
(By the way, as has been repeatedly said to us, all email correspondences that involves the school system are considered public documents. For that reason I am posting this one publically.)

STAR Plan SJCSD Page 1
Instructional Staff Selection Process
I. A point system based on a total of 100 points, will be used and distributed
as listed below:
A. 50 points for the annual assessment of learning gains (See the description
of "Annual Assessment of Learning Gains" below)
B. 50 points for professional evaluation
Instructional staff who receive more than one Satisfactory or any Needs
Improvement or Unsatisfactory will not be considered for the STAR bonus.
Annual Assessment of Learning Gains
Category I Annual learning gains as demonstrated on the Florida Comprehensive
Assessment Test (FCAT) - Reading and/or Math.
Instructional staff in grades 4 through 10 who provide direct instruction or who
have assignment-related duties in reading and math (through any subject) shall be
rated on this achievement standard. Other teachers allowed to use FCAT results
will also be included.
Category I1 Annual learning gains as demonstrated on a standardized assessment, which
links to Sunshine Standards, in a specific subject area will account for 50%
of the annual assessment of learning gains. The remaining 50% will be school
wide data as assessed by the FCAT reading scores.
Instructional staff in any grade who are assigned to courses which cannot be
assessed through the FCAT, will select assessments for each "cell". A cell will
consist of all teachers who teach the same course or related courses (i.e. lSt grade,
Physical Education, etc.). Each cell group will select an appropriate assessment
(either a district-developed or state-approved subject area exam for that particular
course), and it will be reviewed and approved by the St. Johns County School
District Office of Planning, Accountability and Assessment. The assessment will
be required to include pre and post tests and nationally standardized course exams
correlated to the Sunshine Standards.
Category I11 Therapists, ESE classroom teacher who teach students who do not affect the
over all school score on FCAT, and other non-classroom ESE personnel.
Instructional staff who are assigned to this category will use a value table of
FCAT Reading or Math composite or alternative as determined by IEP.
STAR Plan SJCSD Page 2
Category IV For all non-classroom instructional personnel (guidance, media, reading
coaches, etc.) annual learning gains will be determined by school wide data
as assessed by the FCAT reading scores at their respective schools.
Instructional staff who serve at more than one school or more than one grade level
within a school or schools, will use a composite value table of FCAT reading and
math of all students served by instructional staff in these categories.

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