County school, district grades will differ this year

By MEGHAN BRADBURY news@breezenewspapers com

The implementation of the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking testing this year means how schools and the School District of Lee County will be graded has changed the number of components on which they are measured has decreased

S u p e r i n t e n d e n t D r . C h r i s t o p h e r

Bernier said there will be fewer opportunities for schools to gather necessary points

“The biggest impact going into this year is the lack of learning gains,” he said “Principals talk a lot about learning gains

They have students that are in level one and two already and really want to move that student along Some are going to move a few feet, some move a mile The good news is the denominator is changing.”

In a typical year, the district and the schools within it receive an annual grade based on student achievement, growth and other academic measures To receive an A grade, they need to receive 62 percent of points or greater; 54 percent to 61 percent for a B; 41 percent to 53 percent for a C; 32 percent to 40 percent for a D; and 31 percent or less for an F

Again, in a typical year, elementary schools are graded on three components in English Language Arts and mathematics achievement, learning gains and learning gains of the lowest 25 percent; and science achievement. With middle school, it is the same seven components w i t h s c h o o l a c c e l e r a t i o n s u c c e s s , o r Industry Certifications High school social studies achievement, four-year graduation rate and high school acceleration success is added to English Language Arts, mathematics and science components

E l e m e n t a r y s c h o o l s a r e g r a d e d o n seven components, middle schools and K8 schools have nine components, high schools have 10 components and the district has 11 components. Each component is worth 100 points

A c c o u n t a b i l i t y , A s s e s s m e n t a n d Research Director Dr Matthew Kaye said achievement is recognized as scoring a 3, 4, or 5 on statewide assessments

He said this school year for 2022-23 is a transitional year, as students are being tested on Florida Assessment of Student Thinking The first progress monitoring was done in August, the second in January and the third one will be in May for grades third through 10th.

Kaye said since this is the first year of new testing there is no prior year score, which impacts the components

“Other key considerations, while you hear the term ‘hold harmless,’ this is a very significant year for our students They still have to pass statewide assessments for graduation and promotion reasons While it may be hold harmless, our students in the building have the same expectations as years before,” he said.

The changes to the 2022-23 model includes no learning gains, resulting in fewer components; school and district grades may be reset; and the school and district grades will be released later, in either the late fall or winter

The changes include seven components for the district, three components for elementary, five components for middle s c h o o l a n d s i x c o m p o n e n t s f o r h i g h school

“For the district, instead of having 11, you now have seven, 700 points available,” Kaye said

The graduation and college and career a c c e l e r a t i o n r a t e s a r e b o t h l a g d a t a reports, as the prior year data is finalized over the summer, into the following year He said the graduation rates are finalized at the end of the summer, while acceleration success exams are released in August and September

The graduation rate is measured on students graduating within four years of starting high school For instance, a ninthgrader who began school in 2018-19 is expected to graduate in the 2021-22 school year

The graduation rate for the 2021-22 school year was 82 5 percent for the district and 87 3 percent for the statewide graduation rate, compared to 85 1 percent for the district the year prior and 90 1 per- cent for the statewide graduation College and career acceleration represents the percentage of graduates who earned a qualifying CCA credit by earning at least a passing score on an Advanced Placement exam; a passing score on an International Baccalaureate exam; a passing score on an Advanced International Certificate of Education exam; A, C or better in a dual enrollment course; a CAPE Industry Certification credit, 300 or more clock hours in the same Dual Enrollment course program or a 65 or higher on the ASVAB and two JROTC credits from the same branch of the military

The college and career acceleration rate was 63 percent statewide and 68 percent for the district

The presentation also focused on CSI ( C o m p r e h e n s i v e S u p p o r t a n d Improvement) schools those schools that received a D or F, have a graduation rate of 67 percent or less, and have an overall federal index below 41 percent

Kaye said there are three schools in C S I t i e r o n e : G W e a v e r H i p p s Elementary School, Manatee Elementary School and Fort Myers Middle Academy He said all of the schools earned a D last year The first tier has intensive interventions and supports, such as a school improvement plan, instructional reviews, district and school requirements, and progress monitoring data reviews