According to the Florida Department of Education (2005), the Florida
Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) assesses whether or not students have met the
Florida Sunshine State Standards in various subjects. The Florida Sunshine State
Standards are grade level specific benchmarks that students must comprehend by the end
of a specific grade. In this study, the third grade Mathematics FCAT test, measured
whether or not the students met the third grade Florida Sunshine State Standards in
mathematics. The fourth grade Mathematics FCAT test measured whether or not the
students met the fourth grade Florida Sunshine State Standards in mathematics as well.
In addition, both tests cover five mathematics strands (Florida Department of Education,
2005):