Legal Challenges to the Program, Status Report - 2001

The most recent challenge to the state’s assessment program, the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test® (FCAT) came in November of 2001 when Betty Shields of Largo, the legal guardian of a student who had failed the test required for graduation, filed suit to see the actual test booklets and graded answer sheets. When Ms. Shields died a few weeks after filing the suit, the student’s father, Steven O. Cooper, replaced her in this action.

The rulings that resulted from this court case establish the precedent for test security regulations for the statewide assessment program and the scope of student records that contain assessment information.