6 high schools lift FCAT grades
In fact, only one Pinellas high school slipped a grade. Also, 70 of the district's 82 elementaries got A's or B's.
By DONNA WINCHESTER
Published June 9, 2005
There was more good news than bad for Pinellas County schools Wednesday when the state released school grades based on student performance on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.
Administrators were especially pleased with improvement at the secondary level, after nine of the district's 16 high schools slipped a grade last year and half earned D's.
This year, four high schools rose a letter grade and two - Seminole and Countryside - improved by two letter grades.
Seventy of the district's 82 elementary schools earned A's or B's. Ten of them improved a letter grade, and one, South Ward Elementary in Clearwater, rose from a C to an A.
Middle schools held steady for the most part, but five, including Meadowlawn and Riviera in St. Petersburg, improved a letter grade.
"Generally, I think we were pretty pleased," said school superintendent Clayton Wilcox. "While this has been a bit of a rocky year, we've continued making improvements." The state's seventh-largest school district didn't fare as well under the federal government's No Child Left Behind Act. Pinellas failed again to make adequate yearly progress as a district, primarily because of the poor performance of its black students and those with special needs and limited English proficiency.
Dozens of schools that get federal funds because they have high percentages of low-income students failed to make adequate progress for the third year in a row, which means they will be required to provide tutoring for their students. As much as 20 percent of the district's federal funds - $5-million - could be consumed by the effort, said Charlie Eubanks, the Pinellas director of special projects.
These schools also must continue to offer students transfers to other Pinellas public schools. That proved problematic last year, when as many as 11,000 students were eligible for transfers but fewer than 700 seats were open under the district's choice plan.
One school, Gulfport Elementary, failed No Child's requirements for the fourth year. The district will be required to take action at the school, such as replacing staff or implementing a new curriculum.
It is unclear what that will mean, Eubanks said. It will be up to the superintendent to decide whether changes will be made to the school's Montessori program, which started in 2001.
One reason many schools fared better this year under the state's grading plan was their decision to focus on the scores of their lowest-performing students.
In addition to awarding points based on how well students perform in reading, writing and math, the state's grading plan looks at the 25 percent of each school's students who did the worst on the reading part of the FCAT. If half of those students don't make reading gains within two years, a school's grade drops, even if its overall score would have earned a higher grade.
That's what happened last year at six Pinellas high schools, including Seminole High. The school jumped this year from a C to an A, in part because of the effort expended on its lowest-performing students.
"We put students in appropriate classes," said Kathi Bentley, an assistant principal. "We created more reading programs. We had more district personnel in to work with our staff."
She credited principal Rick Misenti, who received the good news via cell phone in Connecticut, with spearheading a schoolwide initiative to raise the grade.
Northeast High, which earned a D last year based on its point score as well as its failure to advance its lowest-performing students, brought its grade up to a C. Principal Michael Miller, who has been transferred to Southside Fundamental Middle School, said the improvement was due to the hard work of staff and the more than 100 community members who provided tutoring and mentoring.
"They spent a lot of time with the kids and built up their confidence," Miller said. Creative scheduling helped Meadowlawn Middle School earn a B after six straight years of C's, said principal Greg Cardonne. Two days a week, students attended fifth- and sixth-period classes first thing in the morning. The early classes were moved to the end of the day.
"I remember when I taught fifth and sixth periods, I would begin losing steam," Cardonne said. "We wanted to turn that around."
He also made the students a promise: If they helped bring the school's grade up to a B, he would shave his head. He expects the seventh- and eighth-graders to come looking for him the first week of school.
For some schools, Wednesday's announcement was discouraging. Several elementaries - Belcher, Kings Highway, Lealman Avenue, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings and Southern Oak - fell from A's to B's. Blanton Elementary, which had earned an A for the past two years, fell to a C.
Lakewood High, the district's only high school to lose ground, fell from a C to a D. It earned enough grade points for a C, and was only 8 points from a B, but failed by 1 percentage point to bring up enough of its lowest-performing students.
"That could have been five or 10 students," said Fred Ulrich, who was reassigned as principal last month from Lakewood to Largo Middle School. "I'm pretty disappointed that we didn't do as well as we could have or we should have. I'm sure the staff is as disappointed as I am."