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Marks: Don't pit school districts against each other
Superintendent Nina Marks is joining with several area superintendents in voicing concerns about a newly unveiled state effort to rank schools districts.
With a district grade of C, Franklin County came out in the lowest 10 percent of state school districts, ranking 60th out of 67 Florida counties.
The numerical ranking, based on each school’s total points derived from FCAT scores, comes at a time when the county’s results on standardized testing are among the best they’ve been since 2003. The district has made steady, incremental progress in the percentage of students scoring at grade level or better in reading, math, writing and science.
The areas that generally showed less improvement this year, and which account for the other half of the letter grade, were in overall learning gains in reading and math, which were essentially flat or slightly lower; and in the scores for learning gains in reading and math among the lowest 25 percent of students in each school, which improved slightly but were not at their highest points for the last eight years.
“We have made progress and we’re continuing to make progress. We’re going to continue moving forward,” said Marks Tuesday. “These are our scores and yes, we have to pay attention to them and we have to see where our weaknesses are.”
Marks noted the scores for science, which showed only 44 percent of students tested at grade level or better, a drop of one percentage point from last year.
“Science needs some attention,” she said. “And students that have not passed FCAT by the time they are seniors need some instruction on their part so point gains can come from their successes.”
At a media conference call Monday morning, Florida Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson said the state’s decision to rank the 67 districts, based on previously available data reports, and to widely publicize the results grew out of a conversation between he and Governor Rick Scott.
“We have taxpayers who are unaware how they’re district is ranked,” said Robinson. “This is to encourage conversation about this and broaden it beyond the people who don’t walk and talk this every day. The rankings will provide an opportunity for local community leaders to say ‘What can we do as a community?’ (to improve education).”
Mark said that while she understands the rationale, she believes it may have unintended negative effects.
“To me I can understand where someone would want to do a report like that at the state level,” she said. “But I don’t think we should be pitting districts against each other. It’s sad to see it’s being reported that we’re pitted against each other.”
With Franklin County surrounded entirely by A-rated districts, including Wakulla, which is 11th in the state; Gulf which is rated 23rd; and Liberty 26th, Robinson was asked directly whether such numerical rankings would encourage further pupil flight from lower-ranked districts.
“People who want to make decisions about that already have that information readily available,” he replied.
He was also questioned how parents should interpret the fact the district’s two schools - the consolidated Franklin County School and the Apalachicola Bay Charter elementary and middle school – are both B schools, while the district is a C. Grading for consolidated high schools such as Franklin is based on more criteria than FCAT scores alone.
“People can use this as they want,” said Robinson. “Local officials will have to address this.”
The commissioner stressed this district-by-district ranking is the first phase of an initiative that will soon include a list of all of the schools in the state ranked by number within the three main school groupings: elementary, middle and high school. Data has shown that the elementary grades at both schools in the county perform better than do their middle and high school counterparts.
State Sen. Bill Montford, a Democrat from Tallahassee whose district includes Franklin County, has expressed concerns over the new rankings. In an interview with the Tallahassee Democrat, the former Leon County School superintendent, and now leader of the Florida Association of District School Superintendents said he has met with the governor and expects to see future rankings include other data, such as socioeconomic and racial analysis.
"You have so many other issues that are important and play a significant role in student achievement," Montford said. "Poverty is a good indicator of the challenges that many of our students face. The fact is we have many students who are quite capable and certainly intelligent enough to do excellent work, but because of the problems some of them face, they don't have the same opportunities."
The superintendents' association that Montford heads called the rankings "a disservice to the students, parents, teachers, administrators, other educators, and our communities at large.
"The public school system is a microcosm of the communities they serve, and not all schools and school districts are equal in terms of funding, economic vitality, poverty levels, etc. — all factors that play a significant role in the success of the public school system," the association said in a press release. "Florida superintendents have always been focused on the ultimate goal of educational success for every student; however there are substantial economic and fiscal hurdles that continue to undermine that goal."
Marks said that profiling districts by racial composition, as some have called for, may cloud the big picture of what teachers face when they enter the classroom.
“We’re going into a classroom and teaching a whole group of children and the results come back from that whole group of children,” she said. “To break it down and pit that race against that race - the classroom teacher is standing there instructing the whole group and doing whatever they can to impart the knowledge. Ultimately, we're working with all the kids.”
Robinson, an African-American, also expressed reservations about adding socioeconomic and racial criteria to district rankings. “I would hate to use poverty and socioeconomic (data) as to factors as to why students can’t achieve,” he said. “Would it give you a reason why white schools are doing better?”
Marks noted that Franklin’s score that gave rise to its ranking is only a few points away from what would have made it a B district.
“Sixtieth is not where we want to be, we'd rather be in the middle and higher,” she said. “We’re doing things, we're changing things up, we're doing whatever we can every year to get better.
“I’m not happy with average, our children need better than average so we can prepare them to find things to make their lives a success,” Marks said. “I fully expect us to be higher than 60 next year with all the plans we’re making next year.”
The superintendent stressed that she believes the overall picture shows that the district has made progress over the last four years. “This gives validity to the fact that they consolidated,” she said. “Having all the children in one place and able to use our resources and cross over one grade to another, it validates consolidation, because the scores are better.”
But, she added. “Instructors are going to have push these students more and raise the bar a little bit to get the results we need to get,” she said. “There’s a lot of things in the works right now to bolster our students and bring them up to where they need to be.”
