Explaining Why More Florida Schools Will Earn Failing Grades

Florida is getting stricter about the way it grades schools, and the proposed rules could mean a spike in the number of elementary, middle and high schools earning ‘F’ grades.

The state Board of Education is considering a new grading system next week. Before that meeting, state education officials made projections on the number of F grades Florida schools would earn under the new grading system.

Here’s the breakdown of Florida’s largest school districts:

• In Duval County the number of F schools would go from 6 to 29.
• In Broward County the number of F schools would go from 5 to 27.
• In Hillsborough County the number of F schools would go from 2 to 18.
• In Miami-Dade County the number of F schools would go from 5 to 50.
• In Orange County the number of F schools would go from 3 to14.
• In Palm Beach County the number of F schools would go from 1 to 14.

A new requirement in the grading system could have a large role in the spike, according to The Miami Herald. 

Unless a school has at least 25% of its students reading at grade level, then Florida schools will automatically get an F grade, regardless of how well students do in other areas.

Whether kids read at reading level will be based on the reading portion of the state’s new FCAT 2.0 test, which is a more rigorous version of the FCAT and is expected to be harder to pass.

State education officials have said more kids are expected to fail the new FCAT 2.0, which means more schools would also get lower, and failing grades.