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FCAT grades looking up in Hillsborough

By Letitia Stein, Times Staff Writer
Posted: Jul 09, 2008 01:08 AM

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TAMPA — Hillsborough’s high schools finally got to crow about school grades Tuesday, following years of disappointing report cards.

Ten high schools earned A’s, triple last year’s number. More than half of Hillsborough’s high schools improved by at least one letter grade.

The campuses didn’t turn around overnight. Many benefitted from a slight adjustment of the state grading formula, which helped eight high schools in Hills­borough, more than anywhere else.

The school grades, handed out for the 10th year, continue to bring new twists to Florida’s push for accountability. Like grades on a student report card, they can bring joy or shame, reward or sanctions — all based on student scores on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.

This year, state and local officials touted mostly good news:

• A record three-fourths of Florida schools earned A’s or B’s.

• In Hillsborough, that figure was closer to two-thirds. But school officials noted that nearly 95 percent of schools earned A’s, B’s, or C’s.

• The number of F schools dropped from five to three in Hillsborough, reflecting a statewide decline.

“We have some great improvements made across the board,” said superintendent MaryEllen Elia, calling the high school results nothing short of phenomenal. “It gives us an indication of the work that’s been done by the teachers and administrations, the students and parents in schools.”

With two F’s in the district, Elia noted that some schools still aren’t where they need to be. Sulphur Springs Elementary earned its second consecutive failing grade, while Broward Elementary picked up its first F.

The independently run USF/Patel Intermediate charter school also received a failing mark.

“It wasn’t something that we anticipated. Our kids seemed to have been making great progress all through the year,” Broward principal Kathy Moore said. “Now we have this to face. We will work on it.”

By contrast, the mood was celebratory at Potter Elementary, which has shed last year’s F-grade stigma.

“There’s nothing like getting the call from the state with, 'Can you say the word cat ... as in C,’ ” said Principal Tracye Brown, who had received a happy heads-up a day early.

High-fives abounded in the front office when the news became official Tuesday morning. But the school knows what a roller coaster the grades can be. Over four years, Potter has skipped from F to C, to F to C.

The grading formula considers how many students reach proficiency in each subject, and how many improve from the year before. It also puts a premium on gains made by kids who struggle the most.

The state’s approach differs widely from federal ratings, which also were released Tuesday.

Seventy-six percent of Florida schools failed to make adequate yearly progress under the No Child Left Behind Act, up from 66 percent last year.

Unlike the state approach, which rewards schools with modest scores for showing gains among struggling students, the federal system punishes entire campuses if a select demographic group of students fails.

Both systems have drawn criticisms. Hillsborough school officials have questioned the fairness of the state’s system at the high school level, where students have to jump highest to meet state expectations.

Even so, many high schools saw unprecedented success this year, following statewide increases in the ninth- and 10th-grade test scores.

Hillsborough High, an International Baccalaureate magnet school, had struggled with three successive D’s, before climbing to a C last year.

During that time, Newsweek magazine ranked it one of the top high schools in the nation. Now principal Bill Orr thinks questions about the disparity can be put to rest — since Hillsborough can finally tout an A.

“Now we can say on every measure that we have available to us, we are a great school,” he said.

Times staff writer Ron Matus contributed to this report. Letitia Stein can be reached at lstein@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3400. For more education news, visit The Gradebook at blogs.tampabay.com/schools.