ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida’s education system entered a new era Monday when the state released its latest round of report cards.
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The new grades are based on the new progress monitoring system, which measures students’ improvement throughout the year.
Those scores in ELA, math, science and social studies are combined with graduation rates, advanced classes and other factors to determine a grade.
It replaced the high-stakes testing at the end of each school year that was overwhelmingly criticized by parents, teachers and politicians alike.
Read: Florida Department of Education releases school grades in new system
Since the system was new, even if the scale for calculating grades remained similar to prior years, the state will not punish low-performing schools or schools whose grades decreased.
This year’s scores set the baseline, with punitive actions kicking back in next winter.
At the district level, Seminole and Sumter earned “A” ratings.
Read: Daytona Lagoon donates winter break vouchers for Volusia County Schools students
The rest of the Central Florida school districts received a “B” rating.
WFTV looked at each grade level to see which schools had the highest and lowest scores in Central Florida. Of the schools graded, the results are as follows:
Highest-scoring elementary schools:
- Coronado Beach Elementary, Volusia County
- Freedom 7 School of the International Studies, Brevard County
- Dommerich Elementary, Orange County
- Whispering Oak Elementary, Orange County
W. Melbourne School for Science (Brevard), Viera Elementary (Brevard), Robert L. Stevenson Elementary (Brevard), and Summerlake Elementary (Orange) all tied for fifth.
Read: ‘Something new’: Florida school district adds 4-day mini-breaks to curb absenteeism
Lowest scoring elementary schools:
- Endeavor Elementary, Brevard County
- Wynomia Park Elementary, Marion County
- Fairglen Elementary, Brevard County
- Victory Charter School K-5, Osceola County
- Reddick-Collier Elementary, Marion County
Highest-scoring middle schools:
- Avalon Middle, Orange County
- Sports Leadership Arts Management, Osceola County
- DeLaura Middle, Brevard County
- Hamlin Middle, Orange County (T-4)
- Lake Nona Middle, Orange County (T-4)
Lowest-scoring middle schools:
- Oak Park Middle, Lake County
- Lockhart Middle, Orange County
Parkway Middle (Osceola), Judson B. Walker Middle (Orange), Union Park Middle (Orange), Fort King Middle (Marion) and James Madison Middle (Brevard) all tied for third.
An Orange County spokesman said administrators at Lockhart Middle School were examining the data to figure out why the state scored them so lowly and dropped them from a C to a D. The public data showed the school’s testing scores were low, especially in ELA.
Highest-scoring high schools:
- NeoCity Academy, Osceola County
- Professional & Technical High School, Osceola County
- Pinecrest Lakes Middle/High Academy, Lake County
- Crooms Academy of Information Technology, Seminole County
- Viera High, Brevard County, and Sattelite Senior High, Brevard County
Lowest-scoring high schools:
- Liberty High, Osceola County
- Jones High, Orange County
- Lake Buena Vista High, Orange County (T-3)
- Oak Ridge High, Orange County (T-3)
- Mater Brighton Lakes Academy, Osceola County & Mater Academy Narcoossee High, Orange County
Highest-scoring combination schools:
- West Shore Junior/Senior High, Brevard County
- Edgewood Junior/Senior High, Brevard County (T-2)
- Orlando Gifted Academy, Orange County (T-2)
- Osceola County School for the Arts, Osceola County
- Orlando Science Middle High Charter, Orange County
Lowest scoring combination schools:
- Bridgeprep Academy Charter, Orange County
- Palm Bay Academy Charter, Brevard County
- Victory Charter, Osceola County
- Creative Inspiration Journey School of St. Cloud, Osceola County
- Emma Jewel Charter Academy, Brevard
Schools that earned D ratings (last year’s grade in parentheses):
- Saturn Elementary School, Brevard (C)
- Harbour View Elementary, Marion (C)
- Lucious and Emma Nixon Academy Charter, Orange (B)
- Poinciana Academy of Fine Arts, Osceola (C)
- Reddick-Collier Elementary School, Marion (C)
- Victory Charter School K-5, Osceola (D)
- Fairglen Elementary, Brevard (C)
- Wyomina Park Elementary, Marion (C)
- Endeavour Elementary, Brevard (D)
- Lockhart Middle, Orange (C)
- Oak Mark Middle, Lake (C)
- Victory Charter School, Osceola (D)
- Palm Bay Academy Charter, Brevard (C)
- Bridgeprep Academy Charter, Orange (C)
While districts across Central Florida highlighted the positive, such as Lake County crowing that the number of D-rated schools in the district dropped from three to one, other statements weren’t as thrilled.
“The school grades released today follow the same pattern they have followed for the past two decades. Schools in more affluent neighborhoods are given higher grades and schools in neighborhoods that suffer from poverty are given lower grades,” the Florida Education Association wrote. “Let’s be very clear, there are no failing public schools in Florida. There are students and school communities who have been failed by their elected leaders—leaders who have failed to give school communities in certain neighborhoods they resources they need to thrive.”
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