The Miami-Dade County, Fla., district has decided to drop all but 10 of the 300 end-of-course exams that used to be a state requirement.
The move by the biggest district in Florida and the fourth-largest in the country reflects growing national discontent with the burden of assessment on students. Previously, state law required districts to create end-of-course exams for every subject not covered by statewide assessments.
According to The Miami Herald, the cutback means that elementary students won’t have any final exams, and tests in such subjects as music and physical education will be dropped. The district will give the remaining end-of-course tests only to a randomly chosen pool of students, as a field test.
