Developing, distributing and correcting FCATs each year was an expensive process. As the Florida Department of Education notes, during the 2009 to 2010 school year, the test cost the state $29.41 per student. This cost included $11.76 for correcting and scoring each test, while the rest of the money funded research, the development of test questions, field testing, review meetings, printing and production of the tests, shipping the tests to and from test locations, reporting test scores, and analyzing results.
In addition to being expensive, scoring FCATs was a very complex and time-consuming process. Correcting the multiple choice portion of the test first required that test-scorers scan the answer sheets and ensure that no faults or anomalies appeared. This scanning process involved creating mock data, wherein scorers would fill in thousands of answer sheets until they could review every possible outcome--or configuration of answers--that a multiple choice answer sheet could have. After this quality assurance review was completed, test-scorers would move on to correcting the actual multiple choice portions of the tests, which students completed. In addition to putting the tests through specialized scanners for correction, test-scorers would then visually review every single bubble that each student filled in. Test-scorers then had to re-check all of the results for a final time, which meant that correcting the multiple choice questions alone took three separate processes. After this, scorers would move on to correcting the written sections of the FCAT.
If students in Florida schools didn't score highly enough on the FCAT at certain grade levels, the state would not allow them to move on to the next grade. In some instances, failing the FCAT prevented students from earning their diplomas and graduating high school. According to the Florida Department of Education, before moving on to grade 4, students in grade 3 had to earn a Level 2 or higher--on a scale of 1 to 5--in the Reading portion of the FCAT. Students in grade 10 had to pass the Mathematics and Reading sections of the FCAT before the state allowed them to earn high school diplomas.