Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.
Whatever Jefferson-Somerset Charter School accomplished during its five years administration of the local schools, improving grades will not be part of its legacy, if the latest school grades released by the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) are any indication.
Keep in mind that no grades were posted in 2020 because of Covid and the general shuttering of schools that it occasioned; and that in 2021, schools were given the choice of opting out of having their grades posted, which many schools chose to do, including Somerset.
The FDOE 2021-22 School Grades and School Improvement Ratings for 2022 shows the middle school received a “D”, down from the “C” it received in 2019; the high school received an “I” or incomplete, compared with the “C” it received in 2019; and the elementary school received a “D”, the same as in 2019.
The school district as a whole also received an incomplete, one of only two districts in the state to receive such a designation. The other was Hendry County.
According to the FDOE, schools must test at least 90 percent of their eligible students to earn a letter grade. If any school tests fewer than 90 percent of its students, it receives an incomplete because of insufficient data. The district’s “I” is apparently tied to the high school’s similar designation.
School grades, according to the FDOE, provide an easily understandable metric to measure a school’s performance and let parents and the public know how well a school is serving its students.
The school grading system focuses on five areas of measurable student success. These are achievement, learning gains, graduation level, acceleration success, and maintaining a focus on students who need the most support.
Which translates into achievements in the English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies; the four-year graduation rate; acceleration success in terms of student hours of dual enrollment or enrollment in industry certification classes; and learning gains in general and among the lowest 25 percent.
The 2021-22 school grades contained 11 components, consisting of four in achievement, four in learning gains, and one each in middle school acceleration, graduation rate and college and career acceleration.
The points earned for each component are then added together and divided by the number of possible points to determine the percentage points earned, according to the FDOE.
An “A” signifies 62 percent of points or greater; a “B”, 54 to 61 percent; a “C”, 41 to 53 percent, and so on. Schools must test 95 percent of their students to be counted.
According to the FDOE, the average percent of possible points for all schools receiving a grade in 2022 dropped by one percent from 2019 across the state – 58 to 57 percent, respectively.
Statewide, compared with 2019, according to the FDOE, the grade improved for 469 schools (15 percent), declined for 800 (26 percent), remained the same for 1,806 (59 percent) in 2022.
Additionally, 84 percent of schools graded “D” or “F” in 2019 improved their grade in 2022, according to the FDOE. All told, 140 schools received a “D” or F” in 2019, of which 117 improve their grade in 2022.
And 100 percent of schools that received an “F” grade in 2019 improved in 2022, with one improving to a “B” and six improving to a “C,” per the FDOE.
The FDOE further reports that the number of “D” or “F” schools has declined 65 percent since 2015, and the number of “F” schools has declined 85 percent during the same period.
In 2022, the FDOE reports, a total of 200 schools received a “D” or “F” grade, up from 173 in 2019, but still better than the 230 in 2018.
In 2022, there were a total of 200 “D” or “F” schools, up from 173 in 2019. Putting the number in the best light, the FDOE notes that the 200 “D” and “F” schools in 2022 was better than the 230 in 2018, 267 in 2017, 497 in 2016, and 573 in 2015.
At the same time, it adds, 30 schools received “F” In 2022, up from 14 in 2019, “but down from the 35 in 2018, 43 in 2017, 111 in 2016 and 205 in 2015.