Miami-Dade County Public Schools eliminates elementary end-of-course exams

Superintendent Alberto Carvalho: 'Need to respect educational environment & restore teaching time'

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho announced Thursday that the district would be eliminating end-of-course exams for elementary school students.

Carvalho tweeted, "We are eliminating ALL elementary end-of-course exams. Need to respect the educational environment & restore teaching time. #studentsfirst."

The district said they are eliminating nearly all of the 300 assessments that were scheduled for Spring 2015. The said the decision came after the passage of a law that provides "flexibility for districts to determine how to measure student progress."

"Today's announcement should come as welcomed news to everyone who recognizes that too much testing deprives our students of valuable instruction time," Carvalho said. "In making these decisions, we've taken a logical and responsible approach to address the concerns of students, teachers and parents."

The move also comes after schools across Florida experienced log-in issues for the second time Monday while students were taking the Florida Standards Assessment.

A week after the initial issues were reported last month, the Florida Department of Education said the glitches were caused by cyber attacks on a server used to administer the FSA.

The second time, education officials said a technical change was made to the testing system that was not approved by the FLDE.

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