State Board of Education members voted in support of Commissioner Tony Bennett’s emergency rule to provide a “safety net” that schools’ grades would not drop more than one letter grade for FY13, continuing the same provision for FY12. It also changes the premise by which districts may have originally decided that ESE center students’ grades would be counted against the regular school to which the student would be assigned or against the center school. (St. Lucie County’s only ESE Center to be impacted is Positive Expectations Academy).
Several State Board members acknowledged the fact that the current grading system has been frequently changed to the point it has become over complicated and the “A-F” model may not be as relevant now as when it was first passed in 1999. Commissioner Bennett has committed to the development of a comprehensive 3-year plan to support the transition and implementation of Common Core with a new accountability system.
A copy of the new rule is below.
School accountability grades will be released by the end of the month.
6AER13-01, School Grade Mitigation. Notwithstanding any other rule to the contrary, if a school grade preliminarily calculated under Rule 6A-1.09981, FAC., is more than one (1) letter grade below the school’s grade for the prior year, the points assigned based upon the provisions of Rule 6A-1.09981(5)(a)1., 2., and 3., FAC., shall be adjusted such that a school’s letter grade is reduced by no more than one (1) letter grade. The points earned shall be evenly allocated across the components in subparagraphs (5)(a)1., 2., and 3., of Rule 6A-1.09981, FAC., in order to ensure that a school’s grade is based upon the components of student achievement, learning gains and the improvement of the lowest 25th percentile.
Rulemaking Authority 1001.02, 1008.22, 1008.34, 1008.345 FS.
Law Implemented 1008.22, 1008.34, 1008.345 FS. History – New