• Font Size    
E-mail

Close Window E-mail This Page

Please Leave Cell Phones At The Door During FCAT

Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)

The information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communications. Read more in our Privacy Policy

Send E-mail

   Print     Share +   
Feb 5, 2008 9:46 am US/Eastern

Please Leave Cell Phones At The Door During FCAT

TALLAHASSEE (CBS4) ― A new statewide policy requires school administrators to throw out a student's FCAT exam if an electronic device such as a cell phone is within his or her reach.  

School administrators had previously been given some leeway in punishing students caught with their phones during testing. But this year, the state's Department of Education has sent a memo to school districts to reinforce a zero-tolerance policy.
State officials say "concerns based on recent security violations" have forced the stricter punishments.

Educators say some students use their phones and other electronic devices to cheat or communicate during the exam. Most violations were handled at the school level.  

In one case reported in The Palm Beach Post, an educator found a pair of students in separate classrooms sending answers through text messaging.  

Other students were bolder, using their camera phones to snap quick pictures of their bubble sheets and send the images to classmates.   

The writing portion of the FCAT begins Feb. 12.

 

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

© MMIX, CBS Television Stations Inc. All Rights Reserved.