Education chiefs to vote on test scoring and grades

Florida’s top education panel will vote Wednesday on how to score the state’s new standardized test and how to revise the formula used to assign letter grades to public schools. Here are answers to key questions ahead of the State Board of Education’s vote:

Q: Why does the State Board need to take these votes?

A: Florida has been issuing school grades since 1999, but a 2014 state law required that the formula be revised, so that is what the board is poised to do.

The state also introduced a new test, the Florida Standards Assessments, last spring, so it needs to set a scoring system. As is common practice, Florida waits until it has a year of data from a new test before doing that. So now, with results in hand from inaugural FSA language arts and math exams, the board must decide how well students need to do to pass the exams.

The State Board – with seven members appointed by the governor – has final say on some statewide school policy matters. Q: Why is the revised grading plan controversial? A: Many school administrators think the state should skip school grades for the 2014-15 school year because the FSA is new, its introduction last spring was marred by technology glitches and the school grading formula can’t

be fully used until there are two years of test scores. That means the full grade calculation cannot be done until after the 2016 test administration.

But state law says grades must be issued for 2015, so the Florida Department of Education plans to do that soon after the board’s January vote.

Q: What part of the grading plan cannot be used this year?

A: The formula judges schools both on how many students pass state tests and how many improve from the prior year, or how many make a “learning gain.” The learning gain calculation, however, cannot be done until a test has been given for two years.

Q: So that worries administrators?

A: Yes, many school superintendents fear too many campuses will get Ds and F this year, thanks to the new test — meant to be harder than the old one — and the missing “learning gains” calculation.

A simulation of 2015 school grades done by the Florida Department of Education, however, showed results similar to last year’s. Q: How could that be? A: The state’s proposed grading rule makes it easier for schools to earn an A. So that likely balanced out the expected lower passing rates on FSA compared with the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test in 2014.

In 2014, for example, schools needed to earn 66 percent of available points in the grading formula to earn an A. Under the proposed rule, they would need 62 percent of those points to get an A.

Q: So are superintendents pleased?

A: No. Most still think it makes little sense to grade schools on 2015 data alone. And some think better-thanexpected grades just underscore that the grading formula is “not authentic,” said Barbara Jenkins, Orange County’s school superintendent and president of the state superintendents association.

Q: Is the board likely to approve the proposed grading rule?

A: Board member John Padget has proposed a stricter grading rule than the education department, so there is at least some opposition. Padget’s plan, to be discussed at the meeting, would require from 65 to 70 percent of points to earn an A and also make it harder for schools to earn Bs.

Q: What are arguments about FSA passing scores?

A: The key disagreement centers on how hard it should be to earn a passing score.

The exams are to be scored like FCAT, meaning they will be five levels with a 3 considered passing or satisfactory. Where the state draws the lines to create those five levels could have a big impact on students. FSA scores are used to help determine promotion from third grade, class assignments and high school graduation.

Education Commissioner Pam Stewart has recommended passing scores that would make FSA tougher than FCAT and likely mean 50 to 60 percent of students pass most exams. Some state board members want an even tougher standard, one that could push down the passing rates below 40 percent.

Q: What will likely happen when the board votes?

A: It’s not clear. Three board members have spoken in favor of stricter standards, saying they are needed to make sure students leave high school prepared for college. Padget has been the most outspoken, saying “the sky will not fall” if the board makes FSA harder to pass.

But others seem swayed by Stewart’s argument that a score of 3, by state law, is meant to describe “satisfactory” performance and so passing should not be out of reach to a large majority of students. New board member Tom Grady made that point at a meeting earlier this month, saying, “There’s a law that says satisfactory is what we will accept.”

Q: When and where does the board meet?

The board’s meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. in Tallahassee. It is expected to be streamed online. Check fldoe.org for details.