Speaking as a well-intentioned but easily bored citizen, I think Florida should announce all of its standardized test results for the public schools at once, instead of in drips and drabs.
It's hard to keep track of the statistics, which arrive this time of year with confusing frequency. Every few weeks they announce some new result or another, and of course, the news is always good. It has developed sort of a Soviet ring ("Five-Year Plan Fulfilled!").
On Monday the state, having previously announced passing rates for third- and 12th-graders, and last month having released the latest writing scores for fourth-, eighth- and 10th-graders, finally got around to releasing the Big Enchilada, that is, the overall test results for this year.
(However, do not confuse Monday's announcement with a fourth one yet to come, namely, the "letter grades" that will be assigned to each school as a result of all this testing. We cannot have all our good news on a single day.)
The governor of Florida was in St. Petersburg for the purpose of releasing the statistics, holding a news conference after touring North Shore Elementary School.
"This is a big deal for me," said Gov. Jeb Bush, who confessed to being nervous before each year's grades are announced. "This is why I ran for governor."
The most important news was that for the first time, more than half of Florida's kids in grades 3-10 are reading at or above their grade level. To be exact, it is 51 percent.
A naysayer might look at the same number and say: That's terrible! You mean that 49 percent of Florida's kids are NOT reading at their grade level?
Indeed, as if on cue, Florida's Democrats issued a statement finding fault. "Victory!" sneered the Democrats' sarcastic headline. "Half of Florida Kids Can Read!!!"
The Democrats declared that they had their own education program, titled "Students First," which would involve - tah dah! - more diagnostic testing in kindergarten, followed by developing something called an Individual Education Plan (IEP) for every student.
Somehow, it did not seem reassuring.
Really, I thought Bush was fairly frank and realistic about the numbers he presented. For the most part they represent slow and incremental improvement:
- 51 percent of kids reading at or above grade level, up from 46 percent in 2001.
- 56 percent doing math at or above grade level, up from 48 percent.
- African-American and Hispanic students improving at a rate two to three times faster than white students, which is good, since they have a lot further to go.
- A continued slight improvement with respect to the rest of the nation, ranking in the 55th percentile in reading (up from the 52nd in 2001) and the 67th percentile in math (up from the 61st).
Slow and incremental gains.
The best news in Bush's numbers came in the lower grades, where the most emphasis has been placed on reading.
But that is a nice way of saying that the latter grades ... well, stink.
Basically, kids get to the ninth grade and the bottom drops out of their reading scores. One theory is that they are finding new, you know, distractions at that age.
In fact, only one-third of ninth- or 10th-graders are reading at grade level. Even the governor admitted to being disappointed. Under Bush, Florida has put a new emphasis on reading in the lower grades; Bush said the goal now must be to extend that emphasis to middle school and beyond.
There also still is an enormous performance gap between white and minority students. Only 32 percent of black kids are reading at grade level and 42 percent of Hispanics, compared to 63 percent of white kids. The numbers for math are similar.
In other words, a black kid in Florida is still only half as likely as a white kid to be reading at grade level. Find all the economic, cultural or educational excuses you want - this is a bedrock problem for Florida.
This will be Bush's main legacy as governor. I would have more sympathy for the Democrats if Bush were now claiming miracles; the fact that he reports incremental gains and talks frankly about where he has yet to succeed speaks well for him.
