Florida's school grades are in, they drop as predicated

From the Tamp Bay Times, by Jeff Solochek


Florida education commissioner Gerard Robinson warned parents last week that when school grades arrive, "you may notice that some schools have lower grades than last year." The state, after all, changed its scoring, standards and tests, all of which play a role in how the grades are calculated.

The results are starting to emerge.

Statewide, there were 1,124 A schools, 667 B schools, 510 C schools, 238 D schools and 47 F schools. A year ago, the numbers were 1,481 A's, 458 B's, 460 C's, 117 D's and 31 F's. Looking at it another way, that's a 24 percent decrease in A schools, and a doubling of D schools, with nearly a 50 percent increase in B schools.

"I am particularly pleased that it is the first time that we have included students who are just learning English and students with disabilities in the school grade performance component," Robinson said in a news release. "It is important that we measure our schools by the performance of all students, since that is the most accurate and fair way to represent our diverse state."

http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/gradebook/content/florida-school-grades-arrive-today