Responding to a survey,

Orange County parents and educators say they want changes to school system’s student grading and teacher evaluations.

The Orange County school district recently asked parents and educators to weigh in on Florida’s school testing requirements, teacher evaluations and school grades — and found strong support for change.

Orange residents would like to scrap end-of-the-year state tests, end tying teacher evaluations to student test scores and replace school grades as the system for measuring campus success, according to a letter from Superintendent Barbara Jenkins to state Education Commissioner Pam Stewart.

The Orange survey was done to provide feedback on how Florida should revamp its school accountability system given new federal rules under the Every Student Succeeds Act (which replaces the federal No Child Left Behind Act).

The new federal law gives states more say in issues related to student testing and school accountability, among others. The state had been seeking input on how it should carry out the law.

The more than 500 Orange residents who answered the district survey, provided these ideas, according to Jenkins’ letter:

51 percent said they want to see the state break end-of-theyear tests into smaller exams that could be done during the school year. This would help in “decreasing both assessment time and student stress.”

73 percent said use national tests such as the ACT or SAT in place of the Florida Standards Assessments, or FSA, for high school students.

72 percent said find something besides A-to-F letter grades to measure school performance and include more categories in that system than those related to student success on state tests.

Nearly 87 percent said to stop using student test score data in teacher evaluations.

The new federal law — and the new leeway it grants to states taking federal school money — provide a chance for Florida to redo an accountability system that “may have served its purpose,” Jenkins wrote.