FAST Assessments

This week we traveled to Carver Middle School and learned how to monitor students as they take the FAST assessment. This assessment measures how quickly and accurately a student can read a certain passage. It is required by the state and they use the information to gauge how well students are doing in English classes within a particular school district. There seemed to be some harsh feelings from the teachers in regards to this assessment. I think they felt like it did not accurately display the skills of their students. After all, how does the speed at which they read define their reading ability? I am interested to see more of the students' opinions on the test and how they feel about taking it.