Florida Schools Could Get A Break On New Report Card

Florida Department of Education

Florida Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson

Florida schools ratings would only drop by a single letter grade under a proposed change to the state school grading system floated at Tuesday’s state Board of Education meeting, according to the Miami Herald.

The state’s plans to toughen its grading system has drawn criticism from school district officials worried that many more schools would earn failing grades under the new system. Parents have criticized plans to test and rate schools that specialize in students with disabilities.

Some of the changes — raising FCAT requirements — have been long-planned. Others, such as testing new English learners and students with disabilities, could be added as required to exempt Florida from federal education rules.

Florida Department of Education officials estimated thousands of additional students would fail to meet the new minimum scores required to pass the reading portion of the FCAT. The agency estimated an additional 230 schools would earn failing grades under the — now changed — new school grading requirements.

The new proposal would act as a circuit breaker, and Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson explained that no school could drop more than one letter grade.

Among the latest recommendations:

•  Take into account the diversity of students learning English

•  Until a student is proficient in English language, the focus should be on learning gains on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test and the Comprehensive English Language Learning Assessment, used to measure student’s language skills and acquisition

•  After five years – the amount of time research indicates it takes for a student to acquire a second language – “all bets are off,” said Miami-Dade Superintendent Alberto Carvalho who served on the task force.