SCHOOL, DISTRICT, AND STATE PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT

The School Public Accountability Report contains several types of data (indicators) designed to inform parents and the general public about the progress of Florida's public schools. This report meets public reporting requirements and provides certain additional information of interest on the status of Florida's schools.

Note: Beginning with the 2010-11 school year, Florida implemented new data elements for collecting and reporting student demographic data in compliance with adjustments made by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget to Statistical Policy Directive No. 15. These revisions allow students to select more than one race and to report their ethnicities and races separately when reporting their demographic information. For ethnicity, students select whether they are of Hispanic or Latino origin, and for race, students select one or more of the following: American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, White. These new categories are reflected in the SPARs.

OCTOBER MEMBERSHIP

The following table provides information on the composition of the student population at the school, district, and state levels.

READINESS TO START SCHOOL

Florida requires that communities and schools collaborate to prepare children and families for children's success in school.

Kindergarten screening for school readiness

Kindergarten students were screened during the first 30 calendar days of the beginning of school using the Florida Kindergarten Readiness Screener (FLKRS). The FLKRS is made up of a subset of the Early Childhood Observation System (ECHOS)- an observational instrument that is used to monitor the skills, knowledge, and behaviors a student demonstrates or needs to develop- and the Florida Assessments for Instruction In Reading (FAIR).

The benchmarks used in scoring for the ECHOS include the following:

• Demonstrating

• Emerging/Progressing

• Not Yet Demonstrating

The benchmarks used in scoring on the FAIR are as follows:

• If a student scores .85 or above on the broad screen then he or she has an 85 percent or better chance of scoring at the 40th percentile on the SAT-10 or SESAT in the spring. The 40th percentile is considered to be on grade level.

• If a student scores .16-.84 on the broad screen then he or she has a 16 percent to 84 percent chance of scoring at the 40th percentile on the SAT-10 or SESAT in the spring.

• If a student scores .15 or lower on the broad screen then he or she has a 15 percent or lower chance of scoring at the 40th percentile on the SAT-10 or SESAT in the spring.

GRADUATION RATE AND DROPOUT RATE

Florida high schools strive to ensure that students graduate and are prepared to enter the workforce and postsecondary education.

Federal Uniform Graduation Rate

The graduation rate shows the percentage of students who graduated within four years of initial entry into ninth grade. Graduates include students who received a standard high school diploma. These results are used in the calculation of schools' Annual Measurable Objectives (AMOs).

High School Dropout Rate

Dropouts are students who leave school before graduation and do not enroll in another institution or educational program before the end of the school year. Percentages show by race and gender the proportion of students who dropped out of school from the total enrollment in grades 9 through 12.

STUDENT PERFORMANCE

Standardized Tests

Although test scores should not be used to draw absolute conclusions about student learning and performance, they provide measured results of student progress toward educational goals. The tests administered to Florida students are described below.

Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT)

The FCAT measures student performance in writing, science, reading, and mathematics.

Alternate Assessments for Students with Disabilities

An alternate assessment for students with disabilities is a performance-based assessment designed to evaluate the progress of students with disabilities on the Sunshine State Standards for special diploma measures. Students who are functioning at a cognitive level such that they would not be expected to participate in the FCAT, who would not be expected to graduate from school with a standard diploma, and for whom the traditional state and district assessment program is not an appropriate measure of performance take the Florida Alternate Assessment (FAA). Alternate assessments for students with disabilities include writing/communication, reading, science, and math.

FCAT Next Generation Sunshine State Standards Tests

The FCAT Next Generation Sunshine State Standards (SSS) tests measure student performance on selected benchmarks. Students who take an alternate assessment and score "proficient" have their results counted with those of other students.

Note: Assessment results on the following tables reflect FCAT SSS data combined with alternate assessment data. Results show proficiency attainment for students who were in attendance during both semesters of the school year.

Writing Assessment

For this assessment, students are given 45 minutes to read their assigned topic, plan what to write, and then write their responses. Scores range from 1.0 (lowest) to 6.0 (highest). Florida alternate assessment scores (FAA) have been merged with the FCAT 2.0 scores for reporting purposes.

Reading, Mathematics, and Science Assessments

On the FCAT reading, mathematics, and science tests, students can attain one of five possible achievement levels, ranging from Level 1 (lowest) to Level 5 (highest).

Student Achievement Level Descriptions

Level 5: Students at this level demonstrate mastery of the most challenging content of the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards.
Level 4: Students at this level demonstrate an above satisfactory level of success with the challenging content of the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards.
Level 3: Students at this level demonstrate a satisfactory level of success with the challenging content of the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards.
Level 2: Students at this level demonstrate a below satisfactory level of success with the challenging content of the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards.
Level 1: Students at this level demonstrate an inadequate level of success with the challenging content of the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards.

Results of Florida alternate assessment scores (FAA) have been merged with the FCAT 2.0 scores for reporting purposes.

Assessment Results by Grade: Percent Scoring Satisfactory or Above
(FCAT 2.0 and FAA)

Percentage of Students Scoring at Each FCAT Achievement Level, 2011-12

Recently Arrived English Language Learners (ELLs)

Florida students in ESOL programs who have been in the U.S less than one year are required to be tested on the Comprehensive English Language Learning Assessment (CELLA) as well as on a state mathematics assessment, but may be exempt for up to one administration of the FCAT 2.0 in reading. These students’ test scores are not included in the current year’s proficiency calculations for math and reading as a flexibility provision approved for Florida by the U.S. Department of Education. The ESEA SPAR chart shows the number of recently arrived ELL students who are not included in the AMO mathematics and reading proficiency calculations for 2011-12.

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)

For more than 30 years, The Nation's Report Card (NAEP) has served U.S. educators as an information resource, providing reliable assessment results of what our students know and can do in key subject areas. It is the only ongoing project that monitors national trends in student achievement at grades 4, 8, and 12 and state trends at grades 4 and 8. Main NAEP, conducted at the state and national level, occurs every two years in reading and mathematics and every four years in writing and science. A representative sample of the student population participates, and each student takes only a portion of the assessment. Results are then assembled to form projected state and national scores, based on aggregated student results. NAEP does not provide school- or student-level results.

Below are the 2011 NAEP state results for Grades 4 and 8 in Reading and Mathematics.

1. Scale Scores

A scale score is derived from an averaging of scores of student responses to NAEP assessment items on a 0—500 point scale. Scale scores summarize the overall level of performance attained by a group of students. (NAEP does not produce scale scores for individual students.) When used in conjunction with interpretive aids, such as item maps, scale scores provide information about what a particular aggregate of students in the population knows and can do.

2. Achievement Level

Achievement levels are performance standards set by the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB), based on recommendations from panels of educators and members of the public. The standards are based on scale scores and define the degree to which student performance meets expectations of what students should know and be able to do. They provide a context for interpreting student performance on NAEP and offer a means of identifying percentages of students who have demonstrated certain proficiencies. The achievement levels set by the NAGB are Basic, Proficient, and Advanced. Below Basic is also reported but not considered to be an achievement level.

The following chart compares the achievement levels between NAEP and the FCAT:

NAEP Participation Rates for Required Subgroups

Additional information is provided at the NAEP website at http://www.nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/ or at the FLDOE website at http://www.fldoe.org/asp/naep/.

SCHOOL SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENT

Schools and communities must provide an environment that is drug free and protects the health, safety, and civil rights of everyone in the school.

School Environmental Safety: Reported Incidents

The most recent full-year district-level data on reported incidents is available through the office of Safe Schools at http://fldoe.org/safeschools/discipline.asp.

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) provides for an Unsafe School Choice Option, which ensures that students who attend a school that has been identified as persistently dangerous are allowed the option of attending another school within the same district.

For the 2011-12 school year, no Florida public school was identified as persistently dangerous.*

*pending review of complete full-year data

TEACHERS AND STAFF

Schools, districts, and the state ensure that teachers and staff are professionally qualified. School boards must provide a learning environment conducive to teaching and learning.

New Staff

The table shows the number and percentage of instructional staff and school-based administrators who were newly hired at this school in 2011-12.

The Professional Qualifications of Teachers

Degree Level

This table shows the number and percentage of teachers at each degree level.

Percentage of Teachers Teaching with Emergency or Provisional Credentials

Florida has no un-certified teachers, although some teachers may be temporarily assigned to areas outside their field of specialization. Data on classes taught by teachers out of field is provided in the following table.

In-Field and Out-of-Field Teachers

The following chart shows the percentage of core academic classes taught by teachers teaching in-field compared to the percentage of classes taught by teachers teaching out-of-field. When a teacher in a district school system is assigned teaching duties in a class dealing with subject matter that is outside the field in which the teacher is certified, outside the field that was the applicant's minor field of study, or outside the field in which the applicant has demonstrated sufficient subject area expertise, as determined by district school board policy in the subject area to be taught, that teacher is teaching "out-of-field." Core academic subjects are English, reading, language arts, mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics, government, economics, arts, history, and geography.

Classes Not Taught by Highly Qualified Teachers

The chart below shows the percentage of classes not taught by "Highly Qualified Teachers" in core academic subjects as defined in federal statute. A highly qualified teacher has earned at least a bachelor's degree and holds a Florida teaching certificate with appropriate certification for each core academic area of assignment. Core academic subjects are English, reading, language arts, mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics, government, economics, arts, history, and geography.

FLORIDA SCHOOL PERFORMANCE GRADE AND AMOs FOR ESEA REPORTING

School Performance Grade

Public schools in Florida are graded annually based on student performance on state assessments and the percentage of students making learning gains. Schools are assigned a letter grade (A through F) corresponding with their rated performance, with grade A representing the highest performance rating and grade F representing a failed rating. A rating of I indicates that grading is incomplete. A grade of N indicates that the school is not graded. While the vast majority of Florida's schools receive a performance grade, certain types of schools are exempt from grading, including Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) facilities. High schools and combination schools that serve high school grade levels will receive a grade based 50 percent on FCAT and 50 percent on new measures. Those grades will not be available until near the end of the calendar year. For those schools, a "P" appears in place of their grades.

2011-12 School Performance Grade*: A

*Certain school grades may be subject to modification pending appeal.

Progress of the Lowest Performing 25% of Students

Components of the school grade calculation include learning gains of the lowest performing students in reading and mathematics. The following table provides information on the points earned based on learning gains made by students in the lowest quartile in the current year.

*Points are based on the weighted percentage of students making learning gains. Students who move from a lower level to level 4 are weighted at a factor of 1.1 in the numerator. Students who move from a lower level to level 5 are weighted at a factor of 1.2 in the numerator. Prior-year low performers who increased their scores by at least 33% beyond the minimum increase to qualify for gains are also weighted at a factor of 1.1 in the numerator.

For more information on school grades and grading procedures, contact your principal's office or your local school board or visit the web page at http://schoolgrades.fldoe.org.

AMOs for ESEA Reporting

Under reporting requirements of Florida’s ESEA* flexibility waiver, Florida has included the following information in applicable sections of this annual report.

• information on student achievement at each proficiency level;
• data comparing actual achievement levels to the state’s annual measurable objectives (AMOs);
• the percentage of students not tested;
• performance on the other academic indicator for elementary and middle schools (writing); and
• graduation rates for high schools.

Florida also includes information on progress of the lowest performing 25% of students in mathematics and reading as part of its annual reporting of AMOs.

In addition, as data become available, Florida will report the performance of its students on NAEP, TIMSS, PIRLS, and PISA compared to the highest-performing states and nations. This AMO is designed to keep Florida moving forward toward national and international competitiveness. Florida will compare its NAEP scores to the top five states and its TIMSS, PIRLS, and PISA scores to the ten top-performing nations.

Additional detailed information on Florida’s annual reporting of AMOs in compliance with the ESEA waiver is available via the interactive School Accountability Reports template at http://schoolgrades.fldoe.org/default.asp.

*ESEA is an acronym for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

For information on revenues and expenditures for your school and district, contact your local school board or your school's administrative office. An online listing of district offices and a directory of schools are also available at http://www.fldoe.org/schools/schoolmap/flash/schoolmap_text.asp.