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More Florida Schools Are Making The Grade

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By MARILYN BROWN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 9, 2008

TAMPA - Florida officials raved about the state's school report card released Tuesday, with a record number of A's and B's and fewer failures.

Hillsborough celebrated with a few more top-graded schools and a drop in the number of failing schools, from five to three, including one charter. It is the only district in the Tampa Bay area with F schools this year.

Sulphur Springs Elementary in Tampa, received its second F in a row and Tampa's Broward Elementary, dropped from a C to its first F grade.

"I'm still puzzled," said Broward Principal Kathleen Moore. "All of our preliminary data show our kids are making good progress. I'm not sure what happened on the day of the test."

Sulphur Springs, one of 23 schools in the state with a second F in a row, will get an influx of state and district help, including a second assistant principal. Its new principal as of June, Christi Buell, said she was told to anticipate the failing grade.

"This is the highest poverty school I've worked in," said Buell, who said she is looking for teachers who are experienced and enthused about working with that population as she hires about a fourth of her staff this summer. About 96 percent of students are poor enough to qualify for free and reduced price lunches.

Also an F school is USF/ Patel Intermediate Charter School in Tampa.

Celebrating escape from the failing column were Potter and Foster elementary schools, both jumping from F to C.

The district changed Potter's boundaries this past year, reducing the population from about 900 to 600, enabling more personalized attention. "My teachers knew the kids, I knew the kids, my whole staff knew the kids," Potter Principal Tracye Brown said.

The other F schools from last year - Just Elementary and Lenard High - improved from F to D.

Still, Lennard was penalized a letter grade because its bottom quarter of students didn't show enough improvement, said John Hilderbrand, the district's testing chief.

A change in state rules this year saved another 66 schools statewide from that penalty, state education officials said Tuesday. If the lower quartile improves and a minimum of 40 percent made gains, the penalty is waived.

Big winners in Hillsborough were high schools where 10 were graded A - up from 3, including Hillsborough High, a C school last year and D the year before.

Hillsborough High used data "to know where our kids are weak" and guide instruction, said Jennifer Kritch, chairwoman of the English department. All teachers concentrated on reading skills; rewards such as pizza parties and gift certificates to McDonald's also helped, she said.

Schools graded A or improving a letter grade earn $85 per student - reduced from about $100 in past years because of budget cuts. The money mostly goes to staff bonuses.

The other A high schools are Alonso, Bloomingdale, Newsome, Riverview, Plant, Sickles, Tampa Bay Tech, Freedom and Gaither.

Statewide, nearly three quarters of schools made A or B grades this year and the number of Fs dropped from 83 to 45.

The F grade for USF/Patel was predicted, said Jenna Hodgens, Hillsborough's charter school supervisor. The school will get additional help from both the district and state, she said.

One more F grade and the school's contract can be terminated, she said.

Another charter, Mount Pleasant Standard-Based Middle School, received an Incomplete grade. Hilderbrand said he is looking into details after the state determined the school did not test the 90 percent of students required.

State officials showed little concern about the state's sinking status on the federal No Child Left Behind measure that assigns passing or failing status to each school.

Less than a quarter of schools passed - 787 of 3,299 statewide, or 24 percent, down from 34 percent.

In Hillsborough, 192 schools did not meet the federal measure this year and 53 did, said Jeff Eakins, the district's director of federal programs. Close to 100 of those schools will offer students a transfer to another school and/or private tutoring because they have high percentages of students from poor families.

This year's federal status simply reflects how different the two accountability systems are, State Education Commissioner Eric Smith said. Each state determines its own standards for grading schools as well as for determining adequate yearly progress, the federal measure.

Florida recently received flexibility on the federal measure that should help the top performing schools that fail the federal mark, Smith said.

Districts have 30 days to appeal state grades and federal marks. Hillsborough usually files appeals, some of which have been successful.

The Significance Of The Report Cards

Q. Why does Florida give school grades?

A. Although federal law requires states to test students in reading, writing and math, Florida developed the school grading system with its own rewards and sanctions. States choose their tests for the federal report card.

Q. What is the difference between the state and federal report cards?

A. Florida's report card annually gives each public school a letter grade based on student performance on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test in reading, writing, math and science. Those FCAT results are also used to compute the federal report card's "adequate yearly progress."

Q. How is the state school grade figured?

A. Schools earn points for each percentage point of their students scoring at or above acceptable achievement levels in each FCAT category. They also earn points if a percentage of students make acceptable gains. If students in the bottom quarter of the school make gains, the school also earns points. High schools can receive 10 bonus points if half the juniors and seniors who retake the 10th grade FCAT pass.

A school loses a letter grade if at least 50 percent of its bottom quarter of students are not deemed to make sufficient growth in reading and/or math two years in a row. New this year: If the school has improved sufficiently over the two years, it will not lose the letter grade.

Q. How is the federal Adequate Yearly Progress determined?

A. All students in a school, including eight subgroups, must meet certain proficiency standards. The subgroups are black, Hispanic, Asian, white, American Indian, economically disadvantaged, limited English and students with disabilities. One child may count in more than one category. To be proficient, a student must score in the top three of five FCAT levels.

In 2007-08 schools had to show 58 percent proficient in reading and 62 percent in math in each subgroup. In 2008-09, the percentage will be 65 in reading and 68 in math. Also, 95 percent of students in all subgroups must be tested. No D or F schools can meet the federal mark.

Q. Why do school grades matter?

A. Schools graded A, and those that improve a letter grade from the previous year, receive about $85 per student, most of which goes to staff bonuses.

Q. What else is different this year?

A. Although students took the multiple choice FCAT writing test, that portion did not count this year for school grades and that portion won't be given in the future.

Q. Why does Adequate Yearly Progress matter?

A. Besides perception, it doesn't — unless the school receives federal Title I money, which is given to schools with a high percentage of students from poor families. In that case, failure to make adequate yearly progress two consecutive years means families may transfer their children to schools without sanctions. After missing the mark three years, students from low-income families may receive private tutoring at taxpayer expense from a designated list of providers.

Q. What is different this year?

A. The U.S. Department of Education has granted Florida flexibility to implement different consequences for schools that don't make Adequate Yearly Progress for six years. Details are being worked out. Florida will also get more Title I money than it did in 2007-08 after a cut last year that will be used for private tutoring, allowing more children to participate in that program. About 40,000 to 50,000 Hillsborough students – mostly elementary – are expected to be eligible for private tutoring services in 2008-09. If demand exceeds funding, a priority system based on academic need kicks in.

Reporter Adam Emerson contributed to this report. Reporter Marilyn Brown can be reached at (813) 259-8069 or mbrown@tampatrib.com.

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