A week ago, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced the continuation of virtual school — but with a twist. All schools in Florida will remain closed as the school shutdowns have been extended into next month up until at least April 15.
“So, all we’ve said basically to the K-12 schools is we’re extending not going onto the campus until April 15th,” said Commissioner Richard Corcoran.
Students will continue taking virtual school and online courses, with the condition that all testing for public schools within the state will be cancelled; this includes FSA and EOC exams. This also means that for seniors who needed to retake a Florida standardized test for graduation, they won’t need the assessment to receive a standard diploma.
“All remaining testing for school readiness, voluntary pre-K and K-12 will be canceled for the school year,” Ron DeSantis announced.
“Requirements for graduation and promotion and final course grades will be evaluated as though those assessments did not exist.”
DeSantis’s decree only covered the cancellation of state’s standardized assessments though, when it comes down to other forms of standardized testing, such as AP testing and AICE examinations, the answer for students is different.
AP testing is still on. The College Board is currently working towards doing at-home online testing, with each AP exam lasting no longer than 45 minutes. They already have exam dates, and are as well providing students with free AP review online sessions starting today.
Meet Andrew Conneen, your teacher for AP Comparative Government and Politics online review sessions! Join him tomorrow at 4 pm Eastern Time for a lesson on the Impact of Global Economic and Technological Forces. https://t.co/4ij2E9BEIY #APCompGov pic.twitter.com/k1wEUJKb03
— AP for Students (@APforStudents) March 24, 2020
Meet Alison Napier, your teacher for AP Art History online review sessions! Join her tomorrow at 1 pm Eastern Time for a lesson on Materials, Processes, and Techniques in Pacific Art [Special Focus: Micronesia]. https://t.co/j5WEZo0zVe #APArtHistory pic.twitter.com/8lnv0sQtp4
— College Board (@CollegeBoard) March 25, 2020
Besides continuing with AP testing, The College Board cancelled its May SAT exams, which, ironically, were going to be the make-up exams for many students who weren’t able to take their SAT in March because of campus closure. SAT for June is still on so far though.
In regards to Cambridge International, AICE testing for May/June was also cancelled. It is still unsure how this will affect graduating seniors, especially since there’s a window of possibility that underclassmen might take their exams in October. For now, much in relation to AICE examinations is still unclear — we just know the exams were cancelled.
https://twitter.com/cambridgeint/status/1242141818827018242?s=21
Despite much testing cancellation, M-DCPS’s distance learning is continuing on after Spring Break as mentioned.
All M-DCPS students that needed an electronic device were able to pick up one from their schools up until this past Friday, March 20. Ultimately, this means that all students around the district are prepared for continuing learning.
To make up for closures, the Commissioner Corcoran may also reduce the standard instructional hours in school time. But corresponding with the reduction, the Board of Education warned school districts that educational calendars may extend to June 30.
“Because we did that, as the governor said, you can’t have kids come back, and then, you need about two weeks, so we’d be into May for testing, so it’s not going to work,” stated Corcoran.
With the impressive rate at which the coronavirus is spreading, there are chances that the school shutdowns will persist past the half of April. Information is coming in every hour, and officials will continue to observe the virus and make changes as necessary.
Stay tuned.
