After issuing a statement of no-confidence in the state’s accountability system for public schools last week, the Florida Association of District School Superintendents will be proposing legislation to change how test results would rate students, teachers and schools. “I think by imposing a partial formula, it brings into question the entire accountability program”.
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The Department of Education quietly released the long-delayed district and school data Wednesday morning, breaking out what share of students landed in the bottom, middle two and top quartiles of the Florida Standard Assessments, administered for the first time in the spring.
Stewart recommended FSA scores to guarantee that a majority of students would receive a passing grade.
The debate over who passes and fails FSA exams is becoming as controversial as the test itself.
The Florida Association of District School Superindents sent out a detailed plan to fix the system, so their ideas were not misconstrued when taken to the State Board of Education.
But Stewart said in a statement that her recommendations were based on a “delicate balancing” of the “tough requirements” of the state’s new academic requirements and the “understanding that Florida students are on a continual journey of improvement”. “We do not want to have doubts where I’m not sure that score really means that because of the technical issues”.
The well-justified howl from the districts follows years of mounting frustration with a flawed system that unfairly affects schools and students, and the refusal of state education leaders to acknowledge the damage.
The state already has removed a few testing stakes from students. However, the school grade components relating to performance will be calculated and reported.
Of the 17 exams, all but the eighth grade math test and the algebra 2 end-of-course exam would see passing rates under 50 percent.
But several state board members said last week they thought scoring for the FSA should be even stricter, dovetailing more with that of the state’s performance on the National Assessment for Educational Progress.
The Hillsborough schools where scores were a point or so below state averages were the same schools that have high percentages of low-income students receiving free or reduced price lunches, Whitten said.
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We urge the Department of Education to heed the call from the local districts. Individual student grades are expected to be released before then, but the state has not said exactly when that will happen.
