Students in the Case Study

¶ … students in the case study project have been singled out based on their performance on the FCAT. They were in the bottom 25% of achievers on that test, and 13% have other issues, such as English as a second language and/or Special Education issues. In addition, the FCAT itself has been the subject of much controversy because many people think that students today are not actually learning, but instead only being taught to know what they need for the test.

Other individuals feel as though the FCAT is a vital measure of how much a student is actually learning, and therefore it is extremely important. Regardless of where an individual stands on the issue of whether the test is important, however, it is required for students in Florida schools and therefore it must be addressed. The grade level of the students in the case study was 5th grade, for the most part, with a few of the students attending the 6th grade when they were tested.

None of the students were held back, and they are all now in the next grade above the one that they were tested in. However, this does not necessarily mean that all of the students are performing at the grade level they should be for their age or the grade that they have actually been placed in. Most of the problems that these students are encountering have come from the fact that they cannot read as well as they should be able to.

With some of these individuals, it is because English is a second language for them or they have developmental disabilities. With other students, there is no specific reason from a developmental standpoint for their lower test scores - these students simply do not read well. For example, out of the forty-eight students that took the FCAT and that are included in this case study, six of them scored a level three on the test.

All of the other students scored a level one or a level two, showing that they clearly were not keeping up with their peers, at least on the FCAT test. The reading level of these students did not appear to be high enough to allow the students to know what they were actually reading for the test.

Those that could read what they were expected to read had trouble understanding and deciphering the information, which not only contributed to their lower scores but also slowed them down and kept them from answering the questions as quickly as other students might have done. This in turn can stop these students from completing their tasks. While none of the students were retained and they all were able to move on to the next grade level, many of them still receive other services.

Some of them are learning English as a second language, and others struggle with mental impairments from mild to moderate. The interventions that these students receive are helping them to progress in their schooling, but unfortunately they are not helping enough to keep the students in line with their peers and to allow them to excel.

These low expectations clearly indicate that either teachers at the work site have largely given up on the idea that these students can be taught and will ever make something of themselves, or they have reached the point where they no longer care whether these students succeed. This certainly may not be true for all of the teachers at the school, but if it is true for even one of them than the students that work with that teacher are not getting the educational experience that all children deserve.

Those that work in schools where there are many high achievers may not see this problem as being realistic. In other words, they may assume that it is not as bad as it is being made out to be and only a few of the students and teachers are actually having any kind of problems.

This would be nice if it were accurate, but there is a concern that the FCAT scores of the school may tell a different story, at least where the lowest achievers and those that need the most assistance are concerned. Many of the students at the school are intelligent, but they do not know how to put that intelligence to good use, because no one has ever taught them that they are capable of doing many things that they may want to do.

Since this is the case, the teachers at the school must be given tools that are practical and can be easily incorporated into what they already do, which will help to stimulate the minds of the students that they work with when it comes to teaching them language literacy. While not an easy task, it is a worthwhile one that should be considered. Children are the future of this country and it seems wrong to neglect any of them, regardless of their race, ethnicity, background, language ability, or mental capabilities.

Those that can be educated should be educated, and ways must be found to ensure that this takes place. There is no reason to think that these children that scored low on the FCAT cannot be taught. They simply have to be given the tools that they need and they have to work with individuals that have the patience and the desire to teach them and make sure that they are able to follow their dreams and fulfill their goals.

It is believed that there are several causes for the problem with these students, and these causes include: Prejudice deters minority students' success. Cultural biases are included in public education. Educators' attitudes toward race, poverty, and power are contributing factors causing schools' low performing FCAT scores and low academic abilities. Low achievers fail to make the connection between effort and success resulting in nonparticipation during reading activities as observed during reading time at the writer's work place.

Many minority learners fail academically due to culture shock experiences in school; this is aggravated by teacher's low expectations. Self-confidence is linked with academic success; students expect to experience failure before entering school due to bias experienced by siblings and parents. Students' perception of their low abilities leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure. As can be seen by the issues mentioned here, there is much that can cause problems for students that are working toward literacy or struggling with impairments and disabilities. Stereotypes and other prejudices, either real.