End+of+Course+Exams

END OF COURSE TESTS Florida is moving toward end-of-course exams for high school students. The state is slated to field test standardized algebra I and geometry exams early next year, adding to the battery of tests it already gives many of its 2.6 million public-school students. The new math tests would be given as a final exam in those subjects and be taken on computer at the end of the year. Biology and U.S. History would folw later. Eventually exams in other high school subjects from English to Physics would be developed. State educators say these exams are a critical piece of their high school reform efforts. Many educators support end-of course exams, agreeing that testing students on what was taught during the course holds teachers and students accountable in a more direct way than does a general exam such as the FCAT.