'StudentsFirst' Weighs in on School Grade Change Proposal

Submitted by Anonymous on February 20, 2014 - 11:50am

Education lobbying group StudentsFirst Florida weighed in on Commissioner of Education Pam Stewart's plan to simplify Florida's school grading system.

Commissioner Stewart's plan is a thoughtful way to allow school report cards to adapt to the new student assessments that will begin in 2015," said Lane Wright, press secretary for StudentsFirst Florida. "It also ensures that school letter grades accurately reflect student growth and achievement in our schools. Grading schools on the A-F system helps parents understand how well schools are doing, and gives school administrators the information that they need to understand what is working in their classrooms and what they can do to improve.By simplifying the school grading system and making it more transparent, Florida will improve the accountability of its public schools.

Florida was the first state in the country to adopt an A-F grading system for its schools, but the grading system has been under intense scrutiny in recent years due to a handful of tweaks and changes which many said made it too complicated.

Under Stewarts proposal, Floridas schools will be graded on four factors: achievement, learning gains, graduation, and college credit or industry certifications.Among other changes: cuttingout SAT scores and certain graduation rates from the complex formula used to evaluate high schools and requiring schools letter grades to drop if less than 25 percent of a schools students are reading at grade level.

If adopted,the proposed changes could take effect as early as the 2014-2015 school year.

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