Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test

The FCAT (Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test) was administered annually, in late February and early to mid-March as well as April, to all public school students in grades three through eleven.

FCAT Science is administered annually to public school students in the fifth, eighth, and eleventh grades.

As of the 2014-2015 school year, many grades do not take the FCAT, and it has now been formally replaced with the Florida Standards Assessments (FSA).

Exceptional education (ESE) students were able to waive the FCAT requirement to get a Standard High School Diploma.

In order to get the waiver, ESE students must prove that they have taken several steps to try to pass the FCAT and must also show that they have improved every time they have taken the test.

A student failing the tenth grade test—that is, the test required for graduation—is allowed approximately five additional opportunities to pass it prior to graduation.

Originally, students were given four more chances to pass the test after failing it in 10th grade—in October and March of both their junior and senior years in high school.

Students, however, may not retake the Grade 10 FCAT during the summer between their sophomore and junior year because additional time is needed for remediation.

In any case, students will receive a Certificate of Completion that allows for admittance in any state community college for which they have met all graduation requirements apart from passing the FCAT.

Retired teacher and Lakeland political activist Carol Castagnero has been a harsh critic of the FCAT and ran for several offices to highlight her opposition to the exam.

The students must achieve a 70% score (Level 3) or higher to be considered passing the Algebra I EOC exam.

[10] All EOCs are administered school-wide throughout a week, ensuring no issues occur while students are signing into the program.

Each student received a unique username and password to access these programs, and schools in Florida often set aside time during the day to work specifically on FCAT Explorer.