Florida FAST Math Test-Day Checklist for Parents (Grades 3–6)

• Confirm the exact date, arrival time, and school instructions; the statewide window is not your child's specific testing day.
• Stop heavy practice the evening before and avoid introducing a new method.
• Follow the usual bedtime and morning routine as closely as practical.
• Leave personal electronics at home or follow the school's storage instructions.
• Remind your child to read each item, use scratch paper, estimate, answer every part, and check that the answer fits the question.
• If your child has an IEP, Section 504 Plan, or approved ELL accommodation, confirm arrangements with the school before the test date.

1. End math review early. Correct one familiar example or review one strategy card, then stop.
2. Check the school's message for arrival time, attendance instructions, allowed items, and any schedule change.
3. Set out the clothes, backpack, and anything the school specifically requested.
4. Charge a school-issued device only if the school told families to bring it. Do not assume a personal device is permitted.
5. Keep bedtime as normal and predictable as possible. A calm routine is more useful than a late cramming session.

• Use the child's normal morning routine rather than making the day feel like an emergency.
• Offer a familiar breakfast if the child normally eats before school; avoid experimenting with unfamiliar food or drinks.
• Leave enough time to arrive according to the school's instructions.
• Keep the final message short: read carefully, organize your work, make a reasonable choice, and check your answer.
• Do not quiz the child in the car or turn the morning into one last lesson.

Florida requires blank scratch paper for FAST Mathematics. The testing platform provides online reference sheets for Grades 4–6 and an online four-function calculator for Grade 6. Grades 3–5 may not use a calculator. Do not send a personal calculator unless the school specifically confirms that it is allowed and will be handled under district policy.

FAST Mathematics is administered in one session on one day. These times are scheduling guidance, not a reason to rush through the items. Florida states that a student who is still actively working at the end of the scheduled session may be given the time needed to finish, up to the end of the school day. Local procedures and approved accommodations still apply.

1. Read the entire question and identify what the answer must tell you.
2. Notice the important numbers, labels, units, diagrams, and information that may not be needed.
3. Choose a model or operation before calculating.
4. Estimate the size or direction of the answer.
5. Use scratch paper and the grade-appropriate online tools to complete the work.
6. Check the entry, unit, sign, and every part of the item before moving on.

FAST is computer-adaptive, so item difficulty can change as the assessment selects questions that meet the blueprint. A question that feels easier or harder does not tell a student whether the previous answer was right. The useful response is the same: focus on the item currently on the screen.

Students with disabilities may receive allowable accommodations documented in a current IEP or Section 504 Plan. Eligible English Language Learners may also receive approved accommodations. Florida directs school staff to arrange accommodations before the administration date and to give students an opportunity to use appropriate accommodations with sample items.

• Contact the teacher or school assessment coordinator before the test date if the arrangement is unclear.
• Ask whether the child has practiced the testing format with the approved accommodation.
• Do not assume a new tool or informal classroom preference can be added on test morning; documented eligibility and testing rules apply.

• Ask how the routine felt rather than requesting remembered test questions.
• Avoid treating one difficult item as evidence that the entire test went badly.
• Use the official score report and reporting-category information—not a child's memory of the session—to choose future practice.
• Remember that PM1 and PM2 provide baseline and midyear information; Florida says those results should be used to identify areas needing support, not as final achievement designations.

If the test is one or two days away, use a short diagnostic to identify one recurring error, practice that correction, and finish with a small mixed review. Keep the work at the child's current grade level.