Florida Gov. DeSantis signs bill to change student testing

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Current standardized testing in Florida public schools will be replaced with assessments taken throughout the year to better gauge individual student progress under a bill Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Tuesday.

The tests will be given at the beginning, middle and end of the school year so teachers can better assess how students are doing in English and math. DeSantis said the testing will take less time than the current Florida Standards Assessments.

“We can get the same information from the FSA in a much shorter period of time and in a way to get really quick feedback for parents, teachers and students,” DeSantis said. “Under the FSA, students, parents and teachers would receive the results after the school year. Well, it was too late to do anything about that. How are you going to remediate if you see problems?”

The bill was a priority for DeSantis, who announced the proposal last September. He signed the bill at a St. Petersburg high school.

Testing results from the fall and winter must be provided to teachers within a week and within two weeks to parents. Testing will take place on computers, unless there's a specific need for a child to take a paper test.

“By eliminating FSA and transitioning to progress monitoring, we are really going to help bolster the conversations between parents and teachers so they can work together to make sure our kids succeed,” DeSantis said.

The Florida Education Association said in a news release that it was hopeful when DeSantis announced plans to eliminate the Florida Standards Assessment but is disappointed with the result.

“This bill does not reduce testing but increases it. The bill does not focus on student learning or on providing teachers time to monitor and assess children’s progress. In fact,...