School grades: Record number earn A's and B's, but high schools...

it is time for principals to be held accountable for their actions.. the teachers can only do so much..and when a principal acts like he or she is a know-it-all the staff tends to resent that type of mentallity .
how can the lake county school system keep a principal in a school that went from a B to a D like in eustis high and in Umatilla.. and keep one in SOUTH LAKE for 4 years of earning a D...where is this accountability that is spoken about all the time...

these principals will come back this august and say it was all the fault of the teachers... most of this administrators are border line morons with no common sense.. i say flush them down the toilet and get some fresh blood in EUSTIS HIGH AND UMATILLA HIGH AND SOUTHLAKE HIGH...
..........

Bear in mind that Lake is the only district to see enrollment increase in the last year, while all the other districts had a drop in enrollment.

Student population density is weighted heavily in the scores.

the penalty kills high schools. most of our high schools are a letter grade higher and making gains in all of the areas... yet one area causes them to fail... take a look at the breakdowns if you would like on the florida department of education website before passing judgement on administration or teachers. also look at the state trends... almost all high schools across the state went down... maybe it is the test this year... is it possible that all of these schools "failed". i challenge the nay-sayers to check their facts before slamming schools... look at the breakdown of the data and see where things are going wrong in a school and then work with your area's school advisory committee to help fix it if you have an idea... or mentor an at risk child... or make sure that your child/grandchild is attending school on a regular basis. be a part of the solution to education and get active in your community schools. high schools need that more than ever. parents... your kids aren't point and shoot just because they got to 9th grade... you need to engage in their education just like you did in elementary school.

Do the students get dumber as they get older or is the grading system skewed to give elementary schools A's and high schools Cs, Ds, or Fs? I am all about grading, but make it fair! That punishment for dropping a letter grade for not making adequate reading gains in reading is BS! The high schools gets penalized twice.

i don't think administrators "blame" teachers. i am a teacher and work at one of the above mentioned schools. we are all working together... and there are so many factors that go into the pot... every year you are looking at a different group of kids with different needs. the lowest quartile movement penalty is a tough one... most of these kids aren't dumb... they are unmotivated, don't attend school regularly, have aspirations of dropping out. reaching them is a tough job and each year there are a new crop of them... each with different reasons for giving up. i think the high school grading system is skewed greatly. did you know that mount dora high had the biggest decline in scores of all high schools? maybe, but did you also know that this particular group came into high school not on grade level from middle school... but some how the middle school was an A school. hmmmm... it isn't a perfect system. lake county is making progress and for the most part schools are good... we should continue exploring a variety of modes and models for educating kids especially in high schools. if a kid wants to be a welder... then teach him to weld and give the school credit for giving him a skill in welding test him on that and make it count ... and don't worry so much about whether he can ace a standardized test.

Let us Think wrote:

Do the students get dumber as they get older or is the grading system skewed to give elementary schools A's and high schools Cs, Ds, or Fs? I am all about grading, but make it fair! That punishment for dropping a letter grade for not making adequate reading gains in reading is BS! The high schools gets penalized twice.

Parents tend to be more involved in their child's life and education during the elementary age years. Parent involvement drops off after elementary school. Also, how many parents can really help their kids in Chemistry, Trigonometry, and Physics?

school grades wrote:

... it isn't a perfect system......

if a kid wants to be a welder... then teach him to weld and give the school credit for giving him a skill in welding test him on that and make it count ... and don't worry so much about whether he can ace a standardized test.

It is a flawed system... particularly when the HS counselors advise against dual enrollment to high achievers because the school district loses 50% of the per-pupil dollars. This is an outrage and people should lose their jobs for this. There should be a public investigation into this.

I agree with you that we need a service sector... let's make the best damned welders and janitors in the area so we can be proud of them! Seriously, I can agree that students should be offered a broad range of vocational training..... the problem is that the evil "discrimination" word will spoil any serious discussion.

One test determines how "great" or how "bad" a school is....Talk about being fair. That's ridiculous!! The students were are talking about are real people. GET RID OF THE FCAT AND LET TEACHERS TEACH!! THERE HAS TO BE A BETTER WAY TO SHOW THAT A SCHOOL IS DOIN WELL BESIDES THIS STUPID FCAT TEST.

And Bordenkircher still has a job.

school grades wrote:

i don't think administrators "blame" teachers. i am a teacher and work at one of the above mentioned schools. we are all working together... and there are so many factors that go into the pot... every year you are looking at a different group of kids with different needs. the lowest quartile movement penalty is a tough one... most of these kids aren't dumb... they are unmotivated, don't attend school regularly, have aspirations of dropping out. reaching them is a tough job and each year there are a new crop of them... each with different reasons for giving up. i think the high school grading system is skewed greatly. did you know that mount dora high had the biggest decline in scores of all high schools? maybe, but did you also know that this particular group came into high school not on grade level from middle school... but some how the middle school was an A school. hmmmm... it isn't a perfect system. lake county is making progress and for the most part schools are good... we should continue exploring a variety of modes and models for educating kids especially in high schools. if a kid wants to be a welder... then teach him to weld and give the school credit for giving him a skill in welding test him on that and make it count ... and don't worry so much about whether he can ace a standardized test.

For the most part schools are good? Please increase your standards if you remain in the system.

Hopefully all this means is that Teachers have finally stopped wasting time on FCAT test prep and started using that time to actually teach students again. These grades are a complete waste of time since it takes away too much time from actual education. What is it, like 6 weeks of test prep? Might as well double the summer break and drop the test. The students and teachers would be in the same position that they are the same. So long as these grades are based on standardized tests, I don't even care to know the school grades...

One more added comment.... For all those who think this part of the 'Every Child Left Behind Act' actually means something....

There are a lot of smart people who are simply poor test takers. Some have test anxiety, some are logical thinkers and poor memorizes (A. Einstein was in this group), and some simply don't care about this test (I let my son stay home for one already)... How did YOU do on your ACT?

No child left behind is simply a military recruitment tool. Many people do not know this but the NCLB Act currently in practice allows military recruiters to obtain information about a student body from local high schools without any direct parental consent. Furthermore it allows recruiters to talk to students without first gaining their information through traditional means: ASVAB.

Not a surprise that Lake County fell a letter grade. Good riddence I say. At least this year we wont have to fight/negotiate with non teaching staff over who gets what from the bonuses...

Delusionole wrote:

<quoted text>
For the most part schools are good? Please increase your standards if you remain in the system.

i meant that no system is without flaws and there is always room for improvement.

Where is the article that Denise-Marie Balona wrote yesterday? Why is it not on the web site so we can comment? Many first, second, and third year teachers without tenure were called into their principals' offices and told that they would not be hired because ,"They were looking for something better." Never mind the fact that many of them did have good FCAT classroom scores but the chemistry just was not quite right. Translation, you did not kiss enough principal butt to keep your job.
Every D high school in Lake County has feeder elementary and middle schools who earn A's and B's year in and year out. Those kids whip the floor with the FCAT. Then when they go to their respective high schools those scores go to Hades in a handbasket. Let me tell you a secret parents, it's not the kids. Even the bottom 25% of the student body from those K-8 schools show ATP but not after they get to high school!!
Seminole County's high schools score A' and B's every year. Lake County has Never had an A high school. Lake's K-8 students take the same FCAT as Seminole's do and yet, our high schools get C's and lots of D's. Do you think for one minute that if our K-8 kids went to their high schools; that they would be earning those same school grades? I think not!
There is a systemic problem in Lake's high schools. There needs to be new management and coaching, meaning principals and teachers. There is no excuse for putting up with this. Why should parents tolerate high schools like that? Parents, it's time to tell you current high school principals the same thing they told their teachers, "We're looking for something better." Or are you happy with paying for mediocrity? Thank you.

Lets quit blaming parents, teachers, principals,school board members etc and take a logical approach. What is the major variable introduced in schools between middle and high schools? Could that new variable be part of the problem. It is time to recognize the elephant in the room. Ask yourself this question, would you rather have a state/district champion sports team or an "A" school? Students and some parents tell me there is no bragging rights for an A school. The local newspapers run extensive articles about HS sports, have a large sports department but maybe 1 reporter for local, governmental and education news combined.
(I know the sports fanatics will be flaming this post)
We as a society make heroes out of our sports figures (even locally) and tend to ignore intelligence.

We need to stop kowtowing to the teachers unions and go to vouchers. The private sector has proven time and time again that it can do a better job than the government schools. Washington, DC schools under the private sector did a much better job at a cheaper price. We can not afford to keep short changing our children to support the tired old ways of protecting teachers and administrators who continue to perform poorly. Lets forget the teachers unions and start some voucher trials.

might want to check the research rather than anecdotal information.

"Box 6 - A Case Example of the Relative Cost and Performance of Public and Private Schools

Milwaukee provides a case example on both the relative performance and the relative cost of public vs. private schools. In 1991, the Catholic archdiocese of Milwaukee released the test scores of children in its schools. The results showed that when the performance of children from similar social and economic backgrounds were compared, the Catholic schools in the Milwaukee archdiocese did no better and perhaps a bit worse at educating minority children than the Milwaukee Public Schools.61

The picture looks about the same with the issue of cost. In 1994, when the archdiocese began closing its four central-city elementary schools, the Catholic school system had a per-pupil cost of approximately $4,000 at the four schools.62 By comparison, in the 1992-93 school year, when excluding centrally budgeted items such as fringe benefits and transportation, each elementary school in Milwaukee received, on average,$2,958. Even including all centrally budgeted items the public schools spent $4,645 per student.63 The Milwaukee public schools also provide many more services and a more complete educational program than the private Catholic schools, according to an independent Milwaukee-based research institution.64"

This document combines excerpts from two reports: "Smaller Classes -- Not Vouchers -- Increase Student Achievement" (Harrisburg, Pa.: Keystone Research Center, March 1998); and "Smaller Classes and Educational Vouchers: A Research Update" (Harrisburg, Pa.: Keystone Research Center, June 1999). Both documents are available on the website of the Center for Education Research, Analysis, and Innovation at http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/CERAI

additional note: most private schools do not take state standardized tests and few will release the results of any standardized tests utilized.

logical wrote:

........ What is the major variable introduced in schools between middle and high schools?....

Hormones. Block schedules. Inept guidance counselors. Sports.

3 can be fixed.

Should have kept Cowin.

She was the reason Lake had the highest rated schools.

Best Superintendent we ever had.