Florida public school grades: high schools decline; other levels improve

Florida saw a dramatic increase in the number of public schools earning A's this year. But the improvement can't be credited to the state's high schools.

Over all grade levels, 1,822 schools earned an A, compared to 1,585 a year ago, FLDOE evaluation and reporting bureau chief Juan Copa told superintendents during a conference call this morning.

For high schools, though, the number of A's was a dismal 68 - down nearly 50 percent from last year. The number of high schools earning D's, meanwhile, went up to 116 (from 70 in 2007-08). And that's before the state's new grading system goes into effect.

Full district and school results went live on the FLDOE Web site at 10 a.m. For an overview of the Tampa area's high school grades, see this blog post.

Chancellor Frances Haithcock told superintendents that the results were expected.

"In the four areas that were tested, there were three that declined," she said. Only math results went up slightly. "So it was anticipated that these high school grades would not be as strong as they have been historically."

Haithcock noted that the state's curriculum standards are under revision and should quickly take effect at all levels. That should lead to better high school results soon, she said, adding that a huge effort in teacher training will be required.

Overall, the state's scores played out like this:

A - 1,822 (+237)
B - 495 (-47)
C - 420 (-145)
D - 173 (+18)
F - 44 (-1)

The state had a record number of schools - 2,043 - qualify for recognition funds by either improving a grade level or earning an A. And 23 percent of schools made adequate yearly progress even as the percentage of students needed to show proficiency in reading and math increased by 6 percentage points each. Last year, 24 percent of schools made AYP.

Education Commissioner Eric J. Smith praised the superintendents for their leadership in what he termed a good year, but added, "It can be better next year."

We'll bring you more information as we get it.

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Comments

[Jen]

Wow! After reading through the comments above, some of you should be very embarrased. The truth is, until you walk in someone elses shoes you just won't know. I have been teaching for the past 6 years. In that time I have also gotten married and had two beautiful children. Before marriage and children I used to spend ALL of my free time working on school. It was my whole life. This was also necessary in the beginning years of my teaching, as I was learning how to be part of the work force. I am truly passionate about my job. I worked at a school where handing out worksheets and reading weekly stories from a text book was not used. Any teacher could tell you that this is not the best way to teach a child. Planning is extremely time consuming. When I would leave school, I learned that I could never leave... there is ALWAYS something I could be doing to do a better job. When I had children I learned that my life was about more than just being a teacher. I was now a parent, too. For those of you that critize teachers and refer to us as whiners, take a minute to think about how much care and compassion we have. We are spending more time every day with your child than you are. Believe me, I know. I leave my children in childcare every day, and I am crushed. We all must work, and we all must work together. Stop pointing fingers. It is amazing what a little appreciation does.

[Fed Up Reading Teacher]

RE: Yes, you are absolutely right, you have an opinion. However, before you continue your anti-teacher tirade consider that Florida and most other states are facing a impending teacher shortage as the number of teachers that will be retiring will not be replaced by the number of new teachers entering the profession. This has been an ongoing issue for years; hence, the reason teachers were included in DROP and districts were required to intiate alternative teacher certification programs. Now, the recession has slowed that exodus down, but it has not and will not stop it. Teachers will retire and many will take your advice and leave for another profession just as soon as economic conditions allow. What you will be left with are 1) teachers who have to invested to leave aka teachers who will be retiring in ten years or so 2) teachers who do the absolute minimum and therefore do not care what you and the public think and 3) dedicated teachers who are consistently belittled by the public and media, undervalued by the state, and demeaned by students and who will eventually become disenchanted and leave or become a minimum effort teacher and cease to care.

Also, take into account tomorrow's teachers are sitting in our classrooms now. They are being subjected to watered-down FCAT focused curriculum, and the belief that all students are special and can do no wrong. Now, what type of teacher do you think they will become?

So, before you are so quick to tell all of us to leave, please consider there may just be a tiny bit of truth to teachers' arguments they are overworked and underpaid. When you completely ignore any valid point of someone's argument, it weakens your own credibility.

As a teacher myself, I can tell you when I worked in sales I never once went home and pondered to myself what my sales pitch would be the next day, did I have enough supplies (my company provided those), contemplate how I will handle the inevitable verbal outburst from one of my customers (we were able to ban unruly customers or call the police), or just how to repair my defective product ( I would simply send it back). Yet, as a teacher I do all of these things. Perhaps your viewpoint is skewed because you went to a nice school where things went smoothly; however, I work in a very poor school where it is a struggle to simply get the kids to show up. It is very draining and most teachers leave. I will be soon as well. I have excellent test score records, been recognized by my district, and my students leave 2-3 years ahead of when they came. I don't complain, because yes, I knew what I was getting into. However, that does not give you the right to constantly bash an entire profession you have never personally been involved in.

So I will take your advice and I will leave. However, I worry (and so should you) about who will take my place. Perhaps you can step up since my job is obviously so easy.

[We have our right to our opinion!]

Pinellas Teacher,
Parents always hear well come and do our job and see how you like it. Well, we have a volunteer that has volunteered and seen the same thing we always say and you still don't like it. Come on now, stop your belly aching and if you don't like you job get another one. I can't stand whiny, complaining and the poor me attitude from anyone. Teachers I must say are the best at it. If I hated my job that much I would find another one.

[Pinellas teacher]

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!!!! HOW'S THAT WORKING FOR YOU??
Keep doing the same old thing--blame the teachers, reduce pay, reduce programs--see if the definition of insanity comes to you. Get off our backs!! And "ADD", just sit down and stick a sock in it. Geez. I am SO TIRED of people like you with your BLAH BLAH BLAH.

[ADD]

The county and state comes up with teachers salary by looking at teachers as a whole. So if you teachers want better pay start policing each other and make the 80 perscent of you that are lazy step up. If you dont like the pay get out and get a real job.

If you think guys that dig ditches get paid more than you should go dig a ditch. Most teachers I had and my kids have are lazy and do as little as possible. I have also coached in the public school system as a volunteer for 18 years. I know first hand how lazy a lot of you are. Police each other thats what we do in the real world!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ruby]

In Pinellas County we teach the Pinellas Way in elementary schools. We MUST be teaching what is posted on our schedules or there are repercussions. Many master teachers have had to learn a different style of teaching under the Pinellas Way. If we don't do it, we are reprimanded. Many of us wonder why we need to teach highly scripted lessons. Again, if the format is not followed, you WILL hear about it. My question is, if many Pinellas Elementary Schools went up in their school grades, when will the Middle and High Schools begin to have to teach the "Pinellas Way"? Is there a correlation as to why these schools have gone down in school grades? Hmm, I'm wondering.........

[We have our right to our opinion!]

Crilly,
The anti-teacher comments come from people that are tired of hearing the same thing over and over. The teachers have done this to themselves. If they didn't complain constantly about the pay and hours then maybe people would be on their side. According to the teachers they make minimum wage and work 80 hours a week all year round. Prior to making the decision in becoming a teacher they knew the requirements. I have seen first hand that many teachers (97% at least)are not there 8.5 hours a day! I have friends that their husband or wife is a teacher and they don't spend 12 hours a day working. Explain why some teacher CAN and DO get what they need to get done in a 8-9 hours day and it takes others 12 hours a day? Has nothing to do with who is better teacher. Teachers need to stop socializing so much during the day with each other and do what they are there to do. My sons teacher this year did get to school a hour early but it wasn't to catch up on the gossip it was to do what she was there to do. Meetings don't happen every morning. The ONLY thing I can feel the least bit of concern about is how some of the children act and behave.

[Crilly]

The anti-teacher comments are soooo typical of Florida residents. Education is not and never will be a priority among the citizens-avoiding paying taxes is. This is one of the reasons why Florida continues to be a horrible place to raise a family and why respectable corporations and their employees are reluctant to relocate here. I'm grateful that people still go into the teaching profession, but with all the hate that's directed to them, I have to wonder why.

[Reality Check]

A very simple fix to this problem...Get rid of the kids that hinder the learning process. Make those parents responsible for those heathens supervise them feed them and educate them. Once they are ready to come back to the educational system they should go before the school board prior to returning to the classroom. The next problem that occurs.....Expulsion. Dump the garbage and let's move on.

[RRRGGG!]

How about those of us who complain about pay AND work 12 months a year... the summer being full time planning, trainings, pt job, reorganizing the classroom, etc? Do you work for free? Because if I am only working and therefore getting pd for 9 months of the yr what do you call all this other time I put in? Charitable donations?

[teaching in Pasco]

Kat

Well said. I agree, there has to be a change in our current educational system. There is more politicing going on within adminsitration and the school board than there is teaching in the classrooms. The path chosen of least resistance also works with the teachers and administrators. We see too many times a catering to the irrational demands of a parent regarding their child's excessive absences or misbehavior, just because it is easier than to have to deal with the "headache". When this is repeated time and time again, it is no wonder why some teachers do not go above and beyond. For example, cell phones. Many of us no longer confiscate them (as we are supposed to) because inevitably the student/parent will complain to administration who will not follow their own rules which is to hold onto it until the parent comes and picks it up. Too many times teachers who follow the rules are humiliated in front of students, co-workers, or parents. It is demeaning and teaches the students a very important lesson...all you have to do to get your way is to complain loud enough. This trickles down to a good portion of the student body who begin to see a pattern and no longer feel as if they have to try. It is those who don't do what they are supposed to do from the start that are rewarded, while those who follow the rules, study hard, and apply themselves that suffer. I am all for parents needing to be strong at home and enforcing their own rules, as well as administrators being strong for their schools. Teachers can only do so much, we need the help from the parents, students, and our administrators.

[In the trenches]

Lila....it is painfully obvious you are one of those ill informed people who base their opinion on a few things they have heard from a few people. When you have concrete research and an adequate sample size to substantiate your "opinions" then come back to the blogs. If you are not in the trenches, you are not in the know.

[!]

It's a shame thoughtful posts are deleted without justification on this blog.

[Kat]

I recently read about a new project being funded for a charter school...in the northeast somewhere...where they are hiring teachers in a range of 100 to 125k. They are hand selected for their excellence in their area of expertise. They will give up the standard school year, tenure, limited class size, and hours (like most professionals who are salaried) for excellent pay. They will be measured based on a performance and outcome matrix (like most free market professionals). The experiment will be very interesting to follow.
I think that there is an unrealistic perception in the educational community about what is expected of professionals in the corporate community. Having come from that community, I can assure you that many of the comments I have read from teachers about "the good life" are not based in reality. Salaried professionals have to compete on a daily basis for their position. While it can be lucrative for a few, there are MANY with equal years of education to education majors who languish in middle management and regularly put in 60-hour week. Time clocks are not in the vocabulary of most management positions. The fact is you have a job to do regardless of the time required and it will be done or you will be kicked to the curb eventually. No protection. The comment earlier that "tenure" does not exist is disingenuous at best. To remove a bad teacher after 3 years is VERY rare. As I said before, GOOD teachers will not deny that nor will the statistics. If we can't at least be honest we will never have a worthwhile dialog. A well functioning system in the free market ultimately rewards success. The ability to achieve success through problem solving and persistence is a key component. Obstacles are not seen as insurmountable and results are the motivator. Administrators, teachers and staff who are not willing to raise the bar and police their profession should not be bitter when the public has a devalued perception of what they do. Again, I am 100% in favor of paying well for excellence. I firmly believe in giving our children and grandchildren the education they deserve. However, paying teachers high salaries for poor performance with no opportunity to weed out the dead wood is futile. If we can all agree that one of our most sacred responsibilities is to provide our children with the best educational opportunities in the world, we cannot ignore the reality that we cannot do that with the system that presently exists. Change it! Step up and work to get it right. The public knows that there are MANY children who come from bad circumstances (obstacle) and parents who are big problems (obstacle). I often hear teachers complain that they are babysitters or surrogates for these kid’s parents. There needs to be a price to be in school...good behavior and attendance. When bad parents have kids at home to deal with they want them to be out at school. Price. Administration and teachers need to step up FEARLESSLY and enforce the code of conduct from K-12. Habits are developed over time and the path of least resistance molds many. The path of least resistance should be good behavior and attendance. Then the teaching begins.

[FSM]

LFS sucks.

[terminator]

Judy:
that's totally erroneous.
actually the education budget was INCREASED by Tallahassee.
also the districts have received hundreds of millions in federal stimulus money and to top that off had .25 mills shifted out of capital to operational budget giving them even more flexibility.

[Lazy Teacher!]

Chris is Right,
I'm sure that all of the teachers on this blog are happy to know that you think you can watch 30 students taking a test, and grade assignments, etc. from the comfort of your desk while the rest of them are emailing, planning, screwing off, or whatever other form of wasting time that you insinuate they are doing. My experience has been otherwise! You cannot possibly give detailed attention to a student's written work and monitor the students at the same time and expect that students will not take advantage of the opportunity to look at their neighbors work or test if testing. You must be an extraordinary teacher and your students extremely successful from your tutelage!

[teaching in Pasco]

Chris,

How lucky for your family that your wife didn't bring work home. Tell us, what did she teach, grade, when??? As a high school science teacher who DOES not waste their time at school, I do still have things to grade at home. I have 125-150 students and there is no way to get it all done at school. Especially now that we are required to do LFS, most of my time at school is devoted to planning...even for subjects that I have taught for years. I occassionaly assign research projects, but it can take over 10 minutes to grade just one...multiply that by 125. Add on top of that meetings, parent conferences, extra help, and so on, there is little time to grade during the day. I was lucky to have a 50 minute lunch last year, but half of that is used to catch up on e-mail, parent phone calls...The 20-25 minutes left where used to catch my breath and recharge, before my next class came in.

[Matthew Luke]

Jaybee, you are a racist! Chris, Where is that in the Bible 2! Obviously you have a racist reading and interpretation of the Bible!

[Chris is right!]

Kenny,
No, it is called time management. If you have x amount of classes that you teach, you will have the first period take their test. What are you doing during that time? Emails? Planning? Screwing off? Second period comes in, you give them their test and you will grade the first period classes test and so on. You can still watch the students to be sure no cheating is going on. But teachers rather do nothing so they have a reason to complain! Don't give me the crap that you MUST walk around the class to be sure no cheating is going on.

[Kenny Blankenship]

Chris,
Not sure what free time you are talking about! Your wife must have been grading assignments, papers, quizzes, and tests during class time when she was supposed to be teaching the students. Or maybe she alowed the students to grade each others work!

[John]

Send your kids to private High School. Stop complaining. If you you want your kids to learn put them next to kids with the same goals and expecations. You drive around in $30,000 cars and buy your kids everything but an education. Yes all kids can get into college but most dont make it through -- because they might make A's at public school but its not because they are learning but because they arent trying to fight the teacher

[Pasco Teacher]

I am tired of my teaching performance tied to the students who don't care. Day in and day out, it seems the students think that education seeps into their heads, without the work. They want everything handed to them. The parents are just as bad. What did I do wrong, not what did my child do wrong.....

[Chris]

Jaybee,

Yeah that's in the bible 2

[Chris]

kenny,

Please when my wife was a teacher she never had to bring anything home to grade. In fact she regularly called those that did lazy and said that they tended to slack of during their free time when they should have been grading.

[Chris]

Dem students that got em A’s must be praying to Jezzbus at the flag pole, ‘cause em schools doing bad is ‘cause of dem teaching that monkey evolution stuff and not forcing the heathenz to pray to my gawd and jezzbus. If them start teaching the creation theory then gawd will make the schools have As and win all the futbowl games,

[JayBee]

Get use to it. Florida kids today are the result of mixing of races resulting in partially retarded children. Look around ya. And stop asking why.

[Kenny Blankenship]

Teachers are the biggest whiners!

My average day during the school year begins at 6:30 AM and ends when I leave anywhere from 3:30 - 5:00 PM. I then go home eat dinner, try and get some chores done, and begin grading papers and other homework that was assigned to my students. That's anywhere from a 9 - 12+ hour day. I would challenge you or anyone else who thinks that "Teachers are the biggest whiners!" to step into our shoes and do what we do with the students that we do it with! I would also estimate that the large majority of teachers work as many or more hours in their contracted 10 months than you do in your 52 weeks a year, 8.5 hour days.

Want to trade?

[Pat Connolly]

Kat,
Interesting comment about giving up the protection of professional services contracts in exchange for increased pay under an annual contract. This comes up from time to time.

Let me clarify something. PSCs do NOT protect bad teachers from termination. All they do is require administrators to have documented cause for termination, coupled with attempted corrective action when appropriate. Personnel on annual contract can be non-renewed (terminated) for NO REASON.

Have you been following the news in Pasco County regarding the non-reappointment of highly-respected, long-time school employees? Would YOU agree to an annual contract in such a climate?

[G.Simmons]

Money will not help grades.Reality will.What do you tell the student who wont be at school for a week because she has to babysit because mom is in jail and she lives 8 in a single wide?Just one example.You can not have a test where all are expected to reach the same results to pass when none start off with the same opportunities.
No pass-no diploma-no future-no fair

[Al]

In response to the snotty comments about the quality of the public schools, two of our children did well in public schools in Pinellas County and were admitted to the Mass. Institute of Technology, where they earned degrees. The MIT admissions officers told us they know the Pinellas schools, and a student who does well here can compete with students from other school systems when applying for admission.

[Al]

An A rating is not necessarily a good thing for a school. The Pinellas School Board is closing several A-rated schools next year.

[stacy]

Can anyone explain to me why the results for "% Meeting High Standards in Reading" are so low across the board for Pasco high schools as compared with Pasco elementary/middle schools? Also, why are those same reading results so much lower (again, across the board) than those for high school mathematics and writing? Taken together, these two facts suggest to me that there is a reliability issue in the reading portion of the high school FCATs.

Science scores are crummy too, but unlike reading, science scores are low at all grade levels instead of just at the high school level.

A quick examination of Orange and Hillsborough schools shows exactly the same trends. According to the FCAT results, little Johnny can read in elementary and middle school but not in high school(?). I am concerned that if indeed "state curriculum standards are under revision", those revisions (and the accompanying resource allocations) will be based upon the results of an FCAT test which may be fundamentally unreliable.

[Amanda]

Many Teachers do work year around by working second jobs and summer employment. It is very sad that a professionals, teachers, who have more education than a majority of society cannot make a good income without working a second job or summer employment.

Maybe that is the teacher pay solution, make the school year go year around. I certainly wouldn't mind it. Not to mention think of how crime in the summer would go down among juveniles who are left home in the summer unsupervised. Wonder what will happen when students are home alone early on Wednesdays this coming school year.

[Am Not Saying]

If you want to see what the healthcare system will look like if it is socialized, just look at our education system. I am a teacher and I will tell you that I am physically drained after a 10 month year of teaching. We have zero time to grade during school so even though our work days appear short, they are quite long. Doctors will be doing the same. The recession has actually HELPED teaching because highly qualified people who are looking for reliable jobs are now becoming teachers and substitute teachers. Yes, I would like more money, but I am also sick of hearing about how the union caters to the lowest of the teachers rather than helping drive teachers to their highest levels. If I work hard and do my job yet get paid the same as someone who falls asleep at their desk in class, what is that pushing me to do? You got it, fall asleep in class. Yet, I also would like to be protected in my views in class because as a conservative, I could be singled out and fired by a principal without the tenure I have earned. The politics that has grown into the education field is ridiculous and needs to be fixed. Finally, the waste is UNBELIEVABLE. The school districts overpay for everything. People at high levels in the districts are getting kickbacks for making sure certain companies are used. It is ridiculous. Yet, no one dare say anything because of the consequences. Look in Hillsborough a couple of years ago a guy tried to be whistle blower. No one paid attention to the thousands and thousands being wasted and he was run out of his job by the higher ups. If you want this in medicine, socialize it.

[Teachers are the biggest whiners!]

I have a idea! Give all the teachers a 10,000 raise. BUT have them work 52 weeks a year 8.5 hour days! You know the way us everyday people work!

[Kim]

Bonuses are given to schools that improve their school grades. Isn't it funny that this year the state is in an economic crisis and the scores drop, so fewer bonuses are awarded!...coincidence? Did students become dumber? Teachers teach less? State still manipulating the numbers?

[BA]

Teachers,
Work a full year then complain about pay. Cry, cry, cry, that's is your mantra. Christ, you only work 180 days a year.

[Pasco Teacher]

Among Pasco County high schools, here are the percentages on free and reduced lunch by school grade:

B 23, 23, 27
C 32, 33, 49, 54
D 42, 54, 54, 60

I say a simpler way to assign grades to the schools would be just to convert the free and reduced lunch percentage to a grade, and dispense with all of the other data.

[Kurt]

An "A" to the school that produces a student that solves the Riemann hypothesis!

[Amanda]

I think these scores are either a reflection on the test and/or the current economic situation.

[Amanda]

If you want the best, just like in the free market, you have to be willing to pay for the best. Science and math teachers continue to leave the profession every day due to better income potential in the private sector.

[Amanda]

Teacher pay is a direct reflection on society. What a society pays a particular occupation shows how much it values that occupation. What I don't understand is that if everyone knows that education shows a direct increase in income and standard of living then why aren't we paying educators more?

Is it because teachers don't have enough people in government pulling for them or is everyone just happy at leaving things the way they are and at the status quo?

Whatever happened to respect and value for the profession? Yes we have teachers that end up in the news but that does not account for the majority of teachers who are very good ethical and caring people. Pay can also be a direct reflection of the amount of respect an occupation holds. After all teachers did not take a vow to live beneath their means. Teachers are people with families trying to make ends meet just like everyone else.

[Timmy!]

"Haithcock noted that the state's curriculum standards are under revision and should quickly take effect at all levels. That should lead to better high school results soon, she said,..."

THAT'S comforting. Let's see if the standards get LOWERED to INCREASE the scores.

Can you say "cook the books" or "moving target"?

[Kat]

I am in full support of paying teachers more. Regardless of the millions who are losing there jobs, we should raise the bar for teachers and pay them like the professionals we expect them to be. With that said, I would only agree to pony up if teachers agree to drop the protection of "tenure" they receive through their contract. I know it is not called "tenure" but in reality it is. As with the free market place, teaching professionals should always be hired and fired based on competence and performance. Like other professionals they need to perform for more than 10 months a year. And, student education should never be limited by the ridiculous 180 day rule. Throwing more money into a bad system won't work. Paying for the best system and staff will. Our teachers should be the best minds and most competent. Good teaching professionals will not argue that their ranks are filled with the 'best'. Our kids deserve the best, but they will never have it with this system.

Best teaching professionals, clear expectations, uniforms, strict conduct enforcement, accountability.

[Judy]

Lila? So that you know...Florida spends less per student than most other states. That isn't about teacher salaries, it's about students. In case you haven't heard, education took a huge cut, yet again, in the budget. THAT might be why your school board wants to raise taxes, NOT the whining teachers.

[Jane]

You can't blame hihg schools who have to have an 85% success rate for a student to earn a 3 while in elementary students only need a 35% success rate to earn a 3...that's why fewer high schools increased. If we hold elementary to equal standards...maybe the high schools would have a better chance of success.

[teacher in the middle]

I apologize for misspelling average.

[teacher in the middle]

I challenge anyone to spend a year as a pulic school teacher. Comments made by those who have not worked as teachers in the public school system for at least a year are nothing less than ignorant. Until you have experienced the long hours, lower than avarage wages, lack of discipline, lack of support and emotional energy that goes into teaching children who largely have no parental support, you cannot understand what we are referring to and you should keeep your opinions to yourself.

[Kim]

I have had several friends leave the teaching profession to find higher paying jobs. None of them has succeeded in earning what they were earning as teachers. So, although they had acutally won recognition as "good" teachers, thier actual skills are not worth on the open market what they are worth as teachers for 9 months of year. And I do believe the cost of living in Pinellas has gone down in recent years.