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More than FCAT will determine high school grades
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| By: Mark J. Crawford, Editor |
November 06, 2009 |
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The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test will continue to be important in grading high schools, but it won't be the only factor thanks to a new formula that gives equal weight to a handful of other criteria like graduation and completion of advanced coursework.
The new formula will benefit or hurt high schools depending on how well schools are doing in each of the additional areas measured. Many believe taking these new areas into account will give a better picture of how well high schools are serving their students than FCAT scores alone can provide.
It also means high schools will have to promote rigorous performance through graduation and not concentrate primarily on getting students past the FCAT hurdle.
According to Carol Clyatt, director of curriculum and school accountability for Bradford County, the change resulted from a bill the Florida Senate passed in 2008 (SB 1908) which places an equal focus on FCAT performance and graduation rates, college readiness, as well as access and performance in accelerated coursework.
FCAT performance will be worth up to 800 points in the new formula, and the new grade components will be worth another 800 points, for a possible total of 1,600 points. Schools will need at least 1,050 points to earn an A, 990 for a B, 870 for a C and 790 for a D. Scores below that will result in a failing grade for the school.
The first of the new components is graduation rate, which seems straightforward at first glance. The more students who graduate, the higher the school will score.
The slight catch is that this school year graduates are defined as those receiving either a standard or special diploma. In future years, those earning special diplomas-typically students whose special needs prevent them from meeting the standard graduation requirements-will be considered non-graduates for the purposes of calculating school grades, along with dropouts, certificate of completion and GED recipients, and continuing enrollees who do not graduate on time.
Schools can earn up to 200 points toward their grade for their graduation rate. In Bradford County, the graduation rate was 72.1 percent in 2008. In Union County, it was 83.1 percent. In Clay County, the graduation rate was 76.3 percent. In all three cases, graduation rate was up slightly over the previous year, which means area schools could be on the right track to scoring well on this component.
The next component in high school grades will be based on both participation and performance in accelerated coursework, such as advanced placement classes (including International Baccalaureate and Advanced International Certificate of Education coursework), college classes taken through dual enrollment, and industry certification earned through the career-technical center.
Clyatt said there are few advanced placement opportunities at Bradford High because of student interest, however there are more students who participate in dual enrollment. Since they are only a semester long compared to AP classes, students may actually take more dual-enrollment classes.
When it comes to performance, schools will earn points toward their grades for successful outcomes. For example, a student earning a score of 3 on an advanced placement exam will count as one successful outcome. Higher scores could translate into more points. Dual-enrollment students would have to earn a C or better in their classes for those to count as successful outcomes.
The acceleration components are worth up to 300 points, with a larger share of the available point total shifting from participation to performance in future years until they are weighted equally.
Component three is postsecondary readiness and is measured by the number of students scoring "ready" on the three common college placement exams, the SAT, ACT and CPT. The State Board of Education defines what scores represent college readiness. Separate measures will be taken for reading and math, and if a student takes more than one of the college placement exams, the higher score will be used in the school grade calculation.
College readiness in reading is worth up to 100 points, and readiness in math is worth up to another 100 points.
Graduation rate for at-risk students will count as the fourth component. Those considered at-risk will be those who scored at Level 2 or lower on the FCAT reading and math tests in the eighth grade, Clyatt said. They will be tracked to see how many make it through graduation.
Schools can earn up to 100 points more for meeting this benchmark.
Finally, the fifth component is based on a school's growth or decline in the other four components. For example, if the number of students performing well on accelerated coursework improves from year to year, additional points (20-40 points per component) will be awarded. If there is a performance decline, however, points (up to 5 -10 points per component) will be lost.
Clyatt explained there is one additional requirement being imposed on schools that earn enough points to receive an A. In order to be an A school, the school must meet a minimum threshold in graduating at-risk students, those defined before as earning a Level 2 or below in the eighth grade.
The recommended threshold is 75 percent of at-risk students graduating, but there is some give. If a school is within 10 points of that goal and improves at least one percentage point over the prior year, they will still earn the A. Beyond 10 points and the school will have to improve at least five percentage points over the prior year to get its A.
This is to help ensure there is constant improvement in those schools deemed the best in the state.
Clyatt emphasized that high schools are required to give notice to entering ninth-graders what the requirements for graduation are. This year is the final year that the current model of the FCAT will be given. Next year, FCAT-2 reading and math test will be introduced to grades three-10, and this year's freshmen will be required to pass reading next year with a score of 300 or better.
FCAT writing and science will remain unchanged this year. In future years, the additional FCAT-2 components will be introduced: science in 2011-12 and writing in 2112-13. With the exception of writing, obviously, the other FCAT-2 subjects will have no short or extended response questions. When FCAT-2 writing is introduced, however, it will be in grades, four, seven and 11 instead of grades four, eight and 11.
FCAT-2 is based on a revision on the Sunshine State Standards known as the New Generation Sunshine State Standards. Math standards are the most changed, Clyatt said. Instead of so many learning standards required at each grade level and a situation where teachers were having to squeeze so much into a single school year, the number of standards per year has been reduced so there is a greater opportunity for students to achieve mastery of one skill before moving on to the next.
Clyatt said that should reduce the amount of review and repetition required each year because students will have acquired knowledge they are ready to build on.
According to Clyatt, the state is also introducing end of course exams for algebra I and geometry courses in 2010-2011, biology in 2011-12 and American history in 2012-13. All of the details have not been worked out. Questions remain, such as what happens when a student passes one of these classes but does not pass the end of course exam.
Bradford High earned a D in 2009, down from a C in 2008. Union County High School brought its D up to a B last year. Keystone Heights Junior/Senior High School fell from an A to a B.
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©Bradford County Telegraph 2009
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