District Awarded an ‘A’ by the
State,
Beats State Average for High-Performing Schools
Alachua County Public Schools has been awarded an A grade by the state based on the performance of its students on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT), and beat the state average for high-performing schools.
The Florida Department of Education recently released grades for districts and schools throughout the state. Alachua County was one of just 19 districts to earn the A grade for 2006-2007. Last year 24 districts in Florida earned the top grade.
District officials say the A grade is particularly gratifying in light of the much tougher grading formula used this year.
“We knew it was going to be harder to achieve an A,” said Superintendent Dan Boyd. “But our teachers and students worked hard, and as a result our FCAT scores went up and we were able to maintain our A grade.”
Overall the number of Alachua County schools earning A’s and B’s this year—which the state considers high-performing--rose from 24 to 27, and most of those grades (19) were A’s. Three of the ‘A’ schools—Alachua Elementary, Littlewood Elementary and Terwilliger Elementary—actually went up two grade levels. The percentage of A and B grades in Alachua County is 72% this year, compared to the state average of 67%. The number of C schools in Alachua County also dropped this year, from seven to five.
Local officials are concerned, however, about three schools--Loften High School, Hawthorne High School and Metcalfe Elementary School--that received F grades this year. Deputy Superintendent Sandy Hollinger says district and school staff have already been analyzing FCAT scores at these schools, and will develop and implement strategies to boost student achievement, such as additional math and writing coaches. Improvement plans for all five D and F-rated schools must be submitted to the state for approval.
“We’re going to be looking at these schools very carefully so that we can target those students and subjects that are most in need of improvement,” said Hollinger.
Two of those schools—Metcalfe and Hawthorne—were tripped up by the state’s new, tougher grading formula. The increase in the number of F schools in Alachua County mirrored a statewide trend.
“The number of failing schools did go up this year as a result of raising the bar,” said Jeanine Blomberg, Florida’s Commissioner of Education.
As part of Florida’s accountability system, schools are assigned points based on the performance of their students on the FCAT. Under the new formula, the number of points required to earn each grade rose 115 points, making it tougher for schools simply to maintain their grades. Two new point categories were added this year—science scores and the percentage of low-performing students making gains in math—which were typically low throughout the state.
Schools also faced an additional penalty based on the scores of those same struggling students. At least 50% of the lowest-performing 25% of students in any school—including those with disabilities or with limited English proficiency—must make required gains in both reading and math. Otherwise the school loses an entire letter grade.
The Florida Department of Education had recommended that the state Board of Education eliminate the penalty this year, but that recommendation was rejected.
The penalty affected four schools in Alachua County. Newberry Elementary School actually earned enough points for an A, but received a B because not enough of its lowest performers made the required gains in math. Gainesville and Eastside High Schools and Idylwild Elementary School earned enough points for a B grade, but were penalized a letter grade due to the performance of their struggling students in reading.
Despite the penalty, both GHS and Eastside boosted their grades from D’s to C’s this year.
“We definitely have some work to do during the upcoming school year, especially at those schools that earned F and D grades,” said Boyd. “But overall I’m pleased at how our students and staff met the challenge of the much higher standards this year, and I feel confident we will continue to make progress next year.”