Educators only accountable for those they teach

By EARL LENNARD

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 18, 2001

Educators have expressed varying reactions to data recently released by the Florida Department of Education showing that most schools with mobile student populations would have received lower grades last year had those children's test scores been counted.

The state defines mobile students as those not enrolled at a given school in October but there in February for administration of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, the primary basis for assigning schools grades of "A" through "F" under the Bush-Brogan A+

Plan for Education.

During the first year of the plan, the FCAT scores of mobile students were part of the school grade calculations. They were excluded from the calculation for the past school year at the request of teachers and administrators who contended that doing so would make the grades more meaningful. The rationale was that schools should not be held accountable for students they do not have for most of the school year.

The recently released data shows that 131 schools around the state would have received a different grade if the state had not made the change. State officials have noted that, contrary to original expectations, only 5 percent of schools statewide were affected by the use of the mobility factor, and none were schools that had formerly received an "F" grade.

Eight of the 131 affected schools are in Hillsborough County. Six of them would have received a lower grade if the mobile students had been counted. However, two of them would have been graded higher, as would have 20 others statewide.

Some have seized upon the differing outcomes as further evidence that the grading system lacks credibility because slight changes in the evaluation process so easily raise or lower grades.

But in fairness, it may simply be a reflection of the intelligence of certain mobile students, be they children of migrant families or military personnel, who attend schools that are able to overcome the true disadvantage posed by having only part of a school year to work with a child.

Nonetheless, the state has definitely taken a step in the right direction by taking mobility factor out of the mix in calculating school grades. It also wisely abandoned a proposal last year that would have included suspensions and attendance rates in determining most grades.

These steps help make the grading system more credible, which is important because public interest in the grades assigned to schools is keen. The A+

plan rewards some schools and penalizes others. Those rewards and punishments affect faculties and staffs, as well as parents and students.

To be sure, the A+

plan should be based upon high standards of academic performance, the attainment of which ensures that students will be successful when their education is complete. In addition, the plan must include a credible, understandable measurement system that holds educators accountable for the performance of students.

But by the same token, the performance criteria must be valid, objective and fair. It must account for individual differences among students, without allowing external variables to justify lower expectations and ensure that the highest performing schools receive grades that accurately reflect their performance.

If schools are to be held accountable, fairness requires that they should have a reasonable opportunity to work with the students whose performance is the basis for that accountability. Therefore, these changes to the grading system are a very appropriate improvement to the plan.

-- Earl Lennard is superintendent of Hillsborough County schools.

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