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Grades based on more than FCAT data
By LENNIE BENNETT
© St. Petersburg Times, ST. PETERSBURG -- Palm Harbor University High School students received some of the highest grades in the state on standardized tests this year. Yet the school scored a B in the grading system based on those scores. St. Petersburg High School students performed very well on the same tests but did not approach the other school's scores. Yet it was one of two high schools in Pinellas County to receive an A grade. East Lake High was the other. Like St. Petersburg High, East Lake's scores were very good but no match for Palm Harbor's. "It was kind of a shock" that Palm Harbor High received a B, said principal Alec Liem. "We'd worked so hard. Though we out-scored almost every other school in Florida, it wasn't good enough." So why doesn't being one of the best rate the best grade? The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test measures proficiency in reading, writing and math skills in fourth-, fifth-, eighth- and 10th grade students. A school's grade, from A to F, is based on the FCAT. The grade is also based on other criteria, such as a comparison with the school's performance in the previous year. That is the main reason Palm Harbor is now a B school and St. Petersburg High is an A school. "Parents need to look at all the components," Liem said. Palm Harbor High School, located in North Pinellas, has about 2,300 students. Approximately 970 of them are in one of two magnet programs, the International Baccalaureate or the Center for Medical and Wellness Professions. Liem estimated that 5 to 6 percent of the students are minorities. On this year's FCAT, 70 percent of Palm Harbor University High School 10th-graders read at or above Level 3 on the FCAT. Ninety percent tested at or above Level 3 in math. Ninety-nine percent scored at or above Level 3 in writing. No other school did that well in the county. Only a handful outscored it statewide. St. Petersburg High School, located in south Pinellas, has about 2,200 students, said principal Linda Benware. About 500 are enrolled in its International Baccalaureate program. Benware estimates that about 40 percent of St. Petersburg High students are minorities. Level 3 percentages for 10th-graders at St. Petersburg High School were 60 percent in reading, 77 percent in math and 96 percent in writing. But St. Petersburg High "demonstrated a substantial improvement in reading and no substantial decline in math or writing," which is among the criteria for an A school, according to state standards. The school's reading scores went up 6 percentage points; a school has to improve by 2 points for an A. Palm Harbor's reading scores, though 10 percentage points higher than any other county school, were no better than last year's, so it could not keep its A grade and fell to a B. "The important thing," Liem said, "is to measure yourself against yourself." St. Petersburg High's Benware was thrilled with the A grade but also downplayed its make-or-break importance. "We did not go for an A," she said. "I tell the students that my goal is for all of them to graduate, and this test is one more step closer." Both principals said students were given lots of instruction in taking the FCAT, a process known as "teaching to the test," and both say that will continue. Of the strategy, Liem said, "You're teaching kids to analyze material and think critically. It's what you would want to do anyway." "We did a lot of preparation," Benware said, "but there wasn't anything major we did other than care for the kids" by doing such things as feeding them granola bars and juice before the test and giving them T-shirts afterwords that read "I survived the FCAT." Liem is confident his school can add another 2 percentage points to the number of Level 3 readers next year and get an A grade. "It will be a challenge" to get another A, Benware said. "But we're looking at a new group of students," she said. "The ninth-graders already know we're taking this seriously."
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