Nearly 400 Florida schools protected from steep grade drops, including 21 from Duval

From the Tampa Times, by Jeff Solochek

To lessen the blow of dramatic changes to Florida's school grading system this year, the State Board of Education decided this spring that no school would be allowed to drop more than one letter, regardless of their score.

"This actually helped 388 schools," education commissioner Gerard Robinson told reporters.

Of those, 339 would have dropped one additional letter grade, 40 would have dropped by two, and nine by three. A smattering of Tampa Bay area schools were included in the mix.

West Tampa Elementary, for instance, received a B while earning points for an F. Reddick Elementary School in Tampa scored enough points for a D, but received a B. Van Buren Middle and Edison Elementary, also in Hillsborough, would have gotten F's if not for the board's action.

In Pinellas, Bay Point Elementary would have fallen from an A to a C; with the state's protection, it earned a B. Belcher Elementary would have fallen from a B to a D; instead it earned a C. Nine Pasco County schools earned enough points to receive C's, but got B's instead because of the one-year grace. These included Richey and Watergrass elementary schools, and Crews Lake and Centennial middle schools.

They don't in any way show an inflation of grades. They show a transition," said Robinson, who also noted that 89 percent of schools received an A, B or C, with 237 schools improving their marks and 1,291 remaining the same.

http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/gradebook/content/nearly-400-florida-schools-protected-steep-grade-declines