School grade calculations may change

Florida Education Commissioner Tony Bennett has recommended changes to the formula used to calculate school grades.

The State Board of Education will meet at 10 a.m. today to discuss Bennett’s recommendation to bring back a rule that would keep school rankings from dropping more than one letter grade at a time.

The tweak to the school-grading system comes after a task force of superintendents and education observers warned recent changes intended to increase the rigor of Florida’s accountability system would drop school grades, despite improved test results.

Bennett said the changes would allow schools to ready for the full implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in 2014-15.

"To be clear, my recommendations are made not to soften the blow of higher standards or to reduce the number of failing schools, but rather to advance the best policy for Florida's students and position our state for a successful transition to full implementation of the CCSS in the 2014-2015 school year and beyond,” Bennett said in a memo to state board members.

For more information, visit fldoe.org.

Contact Josh Siegel at [email protected].