What is the Florida FCAT?

Saturday, March 27, 2010 by Larry Crampton

The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, more commonly known as the FCAT, is a series of exams given to students of specific grade levels over the course of their public school career.  As Florida's public schools are guided by detailed “Sunshine State Standards” and benchmarks in all core realms of academia, the FCAT serves to critically measure students' retention and comprehension of the mandatory curriculum. 

For example, students are assessed depending on grade level on information from topics such as:

·         Grades 3 through 10 – FCAT evaluates reading skills and abilities

·         Grades 5, 8, and 10 – FCAT evaluates reading, mathematics, and science skills and abilities

·         Additionally, grades 4, 8, and 10 evaluate key content material in addition to writing skills

In more closely examining the FCAT, the assessment focuses on “Sunshine State Standards,” which have gradually been established to represent the key material that Florida residents believe their children must understand at each specific grade level. 

For example, the FCAT reading assessments evaluate the construction of meaning from informational and literary texts, while the FCAT mathematics assessments evaluate students' comprehension of the sense, concepts, and operations of numbers, while the math tests continue to gradually evaluate students' measurement, geometry, spatial sense, algebraic, and data analysis skills. 

Practice for the Florida FCAT

We offer comprehensive practice materials to fully prepare for the FCAT testing.  These include online practice tests and printable workbooks.

Begin Practicing Now  >

Product Feature - Free Career Test

Thursday, June 18, 2009 by Larry Crampton
Free Career Test

Discover your perfect career!

We have developed a free, in-depth career test designed to pinpoint your personality type and match that up with what career options would be best for you.  If you hate coming into work day after day, then you might not be in the right career.  Take our free assessment and find out what careers would be best suited for you!

Take the Career Test Now  >


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About this blog series:
This series of blogs highlights our various tests, one at a time.  Please visit our website and our blogs often for the latest exciting information about certified testing.

Product Feature - Are You Smarter Than 5th Graders? Quiz

Tuesday, May 26, 2009 by Larry Crampton
Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?  Free Quiz

Ever wonder how much knowledge from your elementary school years you have actually retained?   Most of us remember only a small percentage of the facts that were taught to us throughout our elementary school career.  How would you compare today with 5th graders?

We have developed a free quiz that enables you to compare your results to those of actual 5th graders.

Take the Quiz Now!  >

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About this blog series:
This series of blogs highlights our various tests, one at a time.  Please visit our website and our blogs often for the latest exciting information about certified testing.

Rethinking Your Career

Wednesday, February 18, 2009 by Larry Crampton
Across the nation, many are thinking about the future of their careers. Such reflection is caused by the massive layoffs occurring throughout many sectors of the economy. However, uncertainty about the future may actually be a welcome wake up call for many who are considering a career change.

Examples of this can be found in many local newspapers such as The Oakland Press.  An article in the Press highlights some examples of individuals looking to retool their career.

Finding a new career or even knowing what you are good at can be a daunting task.  A great place to start is our Free Career Test.  This test computes an in-depth analysis of your personality and then makes recommendations as to what career paths might be best suited to you.

Are You Management Material?

Friday, January 30, 2009 by Larry Crampton
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The Stocks Are Falling! Is Your Job?

Saturday, October 11, 2008 by Larry Crampton
This week saw record losses in the US stock markets.  The DOW Industrials closed on Friday at below 9,000 points, its lowest level in four years.  Investor confidence is near an all-time low.  The housing market, gas and food prices, and many other industries seem to ever more volatile than before.  What about your job?

If you are in the construction, mortgage, or transportation industries most likely you have already felt the effects of a tightening economy.  Perhaps you even lost your job or are one of the lucky ones who still has a job but for how long?  In the Business Week article, “How to Bounce Back from Career Setbacks”, Marshall Goldsmith outlines how we can mentally deal with the setbacks that come with this uncertain economy of ours.

Now is a better time than ever to start re-examining your career options and seeing what else is out there that you might be good at.  Why not start with something fun like a free IQ Test or “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?” free quiz.  Then when you are ready to tackle it, try our in-depth Career Personality Test.  That Career Test will give you insight into your personality and what career options would be a good suit for you.  From there, you can determine whether you need to go back to school for a new degree or can explore new career options directly.  Taking a quiz like this would be a great free way to start doing something about the uncertainty in your career and not wait until it comes crashing down around you!

Mortgage Job Woes

Wednesday, October 8, 2008 by Larry Crampton
All of the ups and downs of the mortgage industry over the last five years has come with both great wealth and great losses.  Some invested wisely and made a fortune.  Some took out bad loans and lost their livelihood.  Some brokers sold loans honestly, most did not.

With all of this investor turmoil, we have to also look at how the ups and downs affected the job market.  From 2002-2005 we saw a enormous increase in housing industry jobs including mortgage brokers and real estate agents.  As the market cooled, those jobs went away.  According to monster.com, one out of every six job losses in 2008 came from the financial sector.

So, what are former finance industry workers to do now?  Why not start with a free career test and find your perfect alternate career!  Perhaps your perfect career is actually as a teacher... or government worker.  Perhaps you are best suited for hotel management.  Take one of our free quizzes today!

How much money does your neighbor make?

Tuesday, September 16, 2008 by Larry Crampton

How much money does my neighbor (or coworker or friend or ...) make?

Even though most would not ask this question out loud, it is still in the back of many of our minds.  This question is a part of our curiosity and maybe even our competitive drive.  While it might not be a good thing to actually ask your neighbors or friends about their finances, it is definitely beneficial to understand the career options out there.  This is especially true if you are struggling to make ends meet and want something better for the future.

What about checking out the MSN article, "How Long ‘Til You Earn Your First Million?".  The article includes a list of current salaries for a variety of career options.

Ok, so now you know how much a neighbor or friend in a different career might be making, but how do you know which career is right for you?  

At FunEducation, we offer several free tests and quizzes to explore what career would be best for you.  The best and most accurate one is the Free Career Test. This test gives you a very detailed 3-section report about your personality and which career would best fit that personality.

You might also try the free quiz, the Business Management Aptitude Test.  That test allows you to see if you are indeed management material or need additional education to accomplish this goal.

If you do find you need to go back to school to get the job you want, why not try one of the online schools for business professional?  You can get started searching for the perfect school in our Career and Education Center.

Aristotle - Modern Day Career Counselor

Thursday, September 4, 2008 by Jonathan Paul

Aristotle with Bust of Homer"In modern times there are opposing views about the practice of education. There is no general agreement about what the young should learn either in relation to virtue or in relation to the best life; nor is it clear whether their education ought to be directed more towards the intellect than towards the character of the soul.... And it is not certain whether training should be directed at things useful in life, or at those conducive to virtue, or at non-essentials.... And there is no agreement as to what in fact does tend towards virtue. Men do not all prize most highly the same virtue, so naturally they differ also about the proper training for it."

The statement above was written by the Greek philosopher and scientist Aristotle over 2300 years ago.  But even though Aristotle's "modern times" are today's ancient times, there remains an ongoing debate about what students should be training toward in their formative years.  Proponents of training 'directed at things useful in life' (i.e., vocational education) like California high school teacher Chris Peters say a radical overhaul could make U.S. secondary schools more effective. High schoolers should spend their first two years meeting basic standards, supporters say, then if they pass subject exams, they could choose between a college-prep track and a variety of community college vocational programs.  

The question is a global one - recent reforms in Sweden led to the creation of a chain of “Knowledge Schools” that have been compared to IKEA and McDonald's for their emphasis on standardization.  These private schools that are free to the students achieve success by setting the expectation that students must be able to establish their own learning goals by the time they finish high school.

While the education experts may disagree, Aristotle recognized the difficulty we all face when trying to decide the path to personal virtue.  Following the links in this post should assist with your journey. 

Are You the Next Warren Buffet?

Wednesday, September 3, 2008 by Larry Crampton
Do you have the business sense to be the next Warren Buffet?  Maybe you are just not in the right career!  Take one of our free tests or free quizzes to discover yourself.  You can find your perfect career with our Free Career Test or perhaps find out whether you are management material with our Free Business Management Aptitude Test.

You might also check out MSN's article titled, "Is Buffet Smarter Than You?".  It gives a great overview of some of the business savvy Warren Buffet has employed over his successful career.  Maybe YOU will be the next big success story featured on MSN!

Education & Career Channel Launched

Wednesday, August 27, 2008 by Larry Crampton

Check out our new "Education & Career Center" that was just launched today on our website.  This new feature allows you to search for the perfect college to fit your interests.  You can search for a college by entering information into the "Find a School" box and clicking, "Find School".

Also included in the channel is the article, "Why should you earn your degree online?".  This is an interesting and informative article making the case for why you should go back to school as a working professional and earn your advanced degree.

We also have links to career-oriented free tests and quizzes such as the Free Career Test, the online Free IQ Test, and many others.

Are You Management Material?

Monday, August 25, 2008 by Larry Crampton

Most employees have asked themselves at some point in their careers if they have what it takes to be a manager and not just an employee.  Likewise employers have asked the same question about their employees.  Good managers are hard to find.  Our Business Management Aptitude Test simplifies this process and allows you to get an good assessment of whether an employee is management material.

In addition to the Business Management Aptitude Test, you might also want to explore one of our other free tests such as our Career Test.  The career test allows you to find out what careers best fit your personality.  It is a PhD-Certified assessment, so you can be sure the results are accurate. 

You also might want to search for colleges using our new college and career tools.

Find Your Perfect Career

Monday, August 25, 2008 by Larry Crampton

We are about ready to launch our new education portal which will allow you to search for the perfect college for you, take exciting free tests and quizzes to discover your perfect career as well as provide other useful free tools for career and education advancement.

In these tough economic times, there have not been better times to re-think your career.  In researching your career, a good place to start is with our free Career Personality Test which is designed to provide a complete personality profile as well as rate you on how well your personality fits into over 300 career choices.  It is a free test, so you have nothing to lose!

After taking the Career Test, you might want to use our new College Search tool to find a college that is right for you.  There are now many online and campus schools across the nation that provide advanced education to working professionals.  Those with advanced degrees typically earn much more than those without degrees, so this might be a good option to look into when considering a new career.

How Well Do You Know Your Intelligence?

Thursday, July 17, 2008 by Larry Crampton
Are you smarter than a fifth grader?  How about a college student?  What is your IQ?  These are all great questions to ask when exploring your own intelligence and where you are in life.

Let's start with the first question.  A lot of time has undoubtedly passed since you were in the 5th grade which is now the last year of elementary school.  Do you still remember all of the material you did when you graduated elementary school?  Would you even be able to pass a test that all 5th graders take at the end of the year?  Take our free "Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?" quiz and find the answer to that question right now.  It is a great start to self discovery.Career Advancement

Once that question is answered, how about a larger question of whether you are in the right job.  As time passes, interests change, personalities change - even your IQ can change.  How do you know what career options best fit your current personality?  That is the question that our Free Career Test addresses with its multi-point assessment.

If you don't like where you are in life, maybe it is time to go back to school and enroll in one of the great colleges for working professionals.  They now make it easy to get a higher education degree while still working and making enough money to support yourself.

How about starting with our Free IQ Test to see where you are with your IQ.  You might be surprised when you take the free quiz!