Florida school grades are out
Well, I wrote that title nearly an hour ago and I just can’t really think of much else to write. I’ve never tried to hide the fact that I think the Florida school grading system sucks. You are comparing one group of kids against another group of kids. As anyone who has taught more than one year can tell you, every year the kids are different.
At my previous school the kindergarten teachers could have told you that the kids from their 05/06 year were mostly brats who really weren’t mature enough for school. The kids from this past school year were “great” and most were mature enough for school.
This year the state has handed out double the number of Ds and Fs than last year. As would be expected, that means that they handed out fewer As and Bs.
Big deal. There are so many factors that aren’t considered when coming up with school grades that these scores mean much more than they should.
The school I just left received an A. The school I am going to received a D. This will be the second time that the school I have left received an A that year. Last time the previous school received a C the following year.
No, I’m not saying my presence had anything to do with it. I’m just trying to show how flimsy the school grading system is in Florida. It’s not uncommon for schools like my last two elementary schools to fluctuate from A to C and back again. Matter of fact, the elementary school that I was just with went from an A to a C and back to an A for the 3 years I was there.
In Orange County it is also not uncommon for high school principals to be moved willy nilly if the school they are at drops to a D for one year. That does concern me.
You see, my last principal, Mr. Man the principal from the 8th level of hell, thinks that being an elementary principal is beneath him. He wants to be a secondary principal. He was given the principal position at my last school because of who he knew. Getting an A and who he knows could get him a secondary principal position. If he ends up at my new high school than I’ll still be stuck with the nightmare I was hoping to put in my past.
If the district decides to make changes, it will do so in the next couple of weeks. I just hope that Mr. Man doesn’t slither over to my new realm. If he does, I hope . . . I don’t know what I hope. More than likely it would be too late for me to get a position anywhere else.
Think positive. The universe isn’t possibly so cruel as to stick me with Mr. Man twice.
Jon:
As a parent of two school aged kids and one that just graduated, how do you think schools should be evaluated to determine its performance when it comes to actually teaching our kids? I don't have all the answers but somehow standards need to be created and schools/teachers/administrators need to be held accountable, right.
30 June 2007, 2:39 pmLaura:
I don't think I have all the answers, either. And yes, I do think that schools/teachers/administrators need to be held accountable. However, having the sole measure of accountability be high stakes testing is a huge mistake. Too much emphasis is placed on test results and teaching to the test is occurring.
One thing that needs to be done is change the testing time from 3/4ths of the way through the year to the end. I don't know how it is in secondary grades but I can tell you that third through fifth grade students can be nearly impossible to teach after taking the FCAT because they are done.
One thing I always had to do as a special education teacher was track progress and create individual goals for all of my students each and every year. I would take a baseline measurement and then when it was time to write the child's individual education plan I would take another measurement to see what sort of growth the child had made. BTW, I also took measurements periodically to make sure that the strategies and skills I was trying to teach were being effective.
I could go on and on but then I might as well write a post about the whole thing. Who knows, maybe I will.
LAW:
The school system is one of the reasons we left Florida 20 years ago. And I am firmly convinced that all this testing, and the teaching for the test instead of for knowledge, is making our school system worse, instead of better. I went to schools in various countries… and the US system always seemed to be worried more about tests and making sure no one gets offended and no real FACTS are taught.
I worry about my granddaughter.. I'll hope that the school in her area is decent, otherwise I'll make sure I keep working so I can get her into a Montessori or better school.
LAW
30 June 2007, 6:23 pmJon:
I agree with both of you, all of these tests that are supposed to determine how well they are learning are actually taking away from what they need to learn from school. I think there needs to be a real overhaul of our education system and not by politicians. We need eductators, parents and administrators to get together and figure out how to do get it done.
30 June 2007, 7:20 pmkip152:
Test scores…No Child Left Behind…What the hell is it besides plain old politics?
1 July 2007, 4:55 pmJon's right.
Jon:
I like the idea of the accountability aspect of No Child Left Behind, but the implementation of it was not setup or handled properly. As an example, my sons school was forced to spend too much time with reading and not enough time on Math and Science because of the requirements of the No Child Left Behind and that is wrong.
1 July 2007, 9:58 pm