In some states that are besotted with accountability, the policy leaders are convinced that students will do better if the tests get harder every year.

Florida and Texas immediately come to mind.

Would basketball players get better if the basket were raised 6″ every year? Would football players score more points if the goal posts got moved back 5 yards every year?

But that is what is happening in Florida right now.

The state announced that it was changing the scoring. If a school performed better on the FCAT, the state test, it might get a lower grade because the cut scores were going to be moved up.

The state superintendents complained, and said this was not fair.

But Jeb Bush’s organization, the Foundation for Educational Excellence, quickly responded with a letter saying that it was necessary to keep raising the bar.

Imagine how discouraging that is for students and teachers, when their successes quickly turn to failure because of a political decision.

Superintendents fear A-to-F grades will drop, ask State Board to make changes to formula

Leslie Postal

7:13 p.m. EDT, June 10, 2013
Florida’s school superintendents are worried that despite better scores on some state tests, public schools will see their annual A-to-F grades fall in 2013. They want the State Board of Education to “mitigate” that predicated fallout by altering the tougher school grading formula it adopted last year, according to a letter their association sent last week.
The letter from Wally Cox, the president of the Florida Association of District School Superintendents, detailed several worries about the 2012 grading changes, some of which won’t be fully implemented until this year.
“Even though many of our schools posted substantial increases in their 2013 test scores, their School Performance grades are likely to drop,” wrote Cox, superintendent of Highlands County schools, in a letter to Chairman Gary Chartrand.
The lower grades, he added, will be the results of an “ever-changing” grading system, rather than lower test scores.
“The ever-changing nature of the School Performance Grading formula and its resulting outcomes continue to confuse the public and further erode trust in the state’s accountability system,” the letter said.
The superintendents made several suggestions, including keeping a rule that no school’s grade can drop by more than one letter grade a year. That rule was in effect in 2012 but was adopted as one-year-only regulation meant to give schools time to adust to the tougher grading.
They also suggested that FCAT writing scores not be judged on stricter standard this year, as the formula requires.
The Florida Department of Education could not immediately say late Monday if Chartrand, or Education Commissioner Tony Bennett (who was sent a copy), had responded to the letter.
Bennett has said he expected school grades to drop because of the more rigorous grading formula in place for this year.

Jeb Bush’s group tells State Board to stay the course, stick with tougher school grading

Leslie Postal

7:57 p.m. EDT, June 10, 2013
Jeb Bush‘s influential education foundation, after getting word about the superintendents’ recent request for school-grade relief, sent a letter of its own to the State Board of Education today. The Foundation for Florida’s Future urged the board to stay the course and stick with tougher grading as a way to increase “student learning and success.”
The letter by Patricia Levesque, the foundation’s executive director, said Florida has had success boosting student achievement by repeatedly and “deliberately increasing requirements and expectations.”
The foundation noted Florida has ratcheted up the A-to-F grading formula several times before — and each time, after an initial drop in grades, schools have then earned better marks.
The group expects the same will happen now, if the board keeps the stricter formula in place.
“The Foundation asks you to remain strong and consistent on school accountability by moving forward with the rules that were in place when the school year started — the rules the superintendents knew they needed to play by during this past school year,” Levesque wrote.
A bit to add at 8:08 PM June 10, 2013

It is pretty tough to explain to third graders that their school increased its performance but the grade dropped. It is also difficult to explain to the public that the grades reflect a political curve. Will be interesting to see if Gov. Scott agrees with the Superintendents or the former Governer. OCPS tells the story by noting the highest performing schools and those with the greatest improvement. Never do educators send mixed signals to kids and expect that the following year the students will work as hard. Consistently high expectations and never unattainable moving targets.