Florida Assessment of Student Thinking (FAST) Assessments
In March 2022, Governor Ron DeSantis signed new legislation that replaces the grade-level Florida Standards Assessments (FSA) in English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics with the Coordinated Screening and Progress Monitoring System, also called the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking (FAST) required in section 1008.25(8), Florida Statutes.
Grades 3-10 FAST Overview
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The Statewide Assessment Guide provides information about the grades 3-10 FAST Reading & Math assessments, BEST assessments (Writing, Algebra 1 EOC, and Geometry EOC), Statewide Grade 5 and 8 Science assessments, and EOC assessments in Biology 1, Civics, and U.S. History. This information includes the considerations governing item and test development, the mechanics of item and test scoring, and the meaning of the different assessment scores.
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Grades 3-10 FAST ELA Reading and Grades 3-8 FAST Mathematics assessments are aligned to the Benchmarks for Excelling Student Thinking (B.E.S.T.) Standards.
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Because all FAST assessments are computer-adaptive, items may become progressively harder as students successfully respond to items and easier if students answer more questions incorrectly.
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FAST progress monitoring (PM) assessments are administered three times during each school year. PM1 provides a baseline score so teachers can track student progress in learning the B.E.S.T. standards from PM1 to PM3. PM2 provides a mid-year score to compare to the baseline score from PM1. PM3 provides a summative score that will accurately measure student mastery of the B.E.S.T. standards at the end of the school year. PM3 will be sued for school accountability beginning in the 2023-24 school year.
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Each Progress Monitor (PM) event is tied to a test design summary and blueprint for the full grade-level content. The ELA and Mathematics blueprints show how many items in each reporting category students will encounter during each PM window.
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Understanding FAST Grades 3-10 ELA-Reading, G3-8 Mathematics, & BEST Algebra 1 & Geometry EOC Reports for Families (November 2023) provides an introduction about FAST assessments; explanations of the different sections of the Individual Student Report (ISR); Achievement Levels; and Reporting Categories.
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A comprehensive video explaining Florida’s statewide computer-adaptive testing (CAT) is now available on the Florida Department of Education's portal: https://flfast.org/resources/general/florida-statewide-assessments-computer-adaptive-testing-video. This video walks through the different components of how a CAT is designed, how CATs function while a student is taking a test, and how adaptive tests are scored.
Please note: this video describes the functionality of current FAST and B.E.S.T. EOC assessments and next year’s Science and Social Studies assessments when they are fully adaptive. For more information about this year’s Science and Social Studies assessments, please see the CAT FAQ.