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At least one if not more of Duval County’s lowest-achieving high schools could soon exit the state’s intervene status because Florida was granted a waiver Thursday from the federal No Child Left Behind law, the county’s schools superintendent said.
President Barack Obama granted waivers to Florida, Georgia and eight other states from the school accountability law that many educators criticized as unrealistic and unreasonable because it mandated that all students be proficient in math and reading by 2014. The waiver means Florida schools no longer will have to meet federal Adequate Yearly Progress goals.
Duval Superintendent Ed Pratt-Dannals said the waiver eliminates discrepancies between a school grade and which school was in intervene status, which is the state’s designation for the poorest performing schools.
Previously, it was possible for a school with a grade of “C” being in intervene, while one with an “F” was not, he said.
“For the first time, this will make it possible for our high schools to exit intervene status. It was mathematically impossible before,” Pratt-Dannals said. “A combination of a C grade as the full school grade, along with a percentage of our students meeting proficiency in reading as set by the state Board of Education, will now be included in the formula to exit intervene status.”
Ribault High School, which received its first C grade this year, could be among those exiting intervene status as a result of the waiver. It will depend on new criteria, including student proficiency guidelines proposed by the state, he said.
“We’re very hopeful that at least one if not more of our high schools will be able to exit intervene,” he said. “Three of the four [schools] that have been in intervene the longest are high schools. The other three are high schools. So, the combination of the new cut scores and other criteria, it’s going to be more balanced. You’ll see fewer high schools in intervene status.”
On the down side, the first time a school makes an F, it automatically goes into intervene status. With new cut scores on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, this will mean more elementary and middle schools will likely enter intervene status, Pratt-Dannals said.
The main thing the waiver gives Florida and the other states is more flexibility in meeting student achievement goals. Florida’s state school grading system now becomes the sole measure of public education statewide.
“This allows a much closer alignment with Florida’s accountability system,” St. Johns County schools Superintendent Joseph Joyner said. The waiver will also eliminate duplication and contradictions between state and federal education mandates, he said.
Florida Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson said the way the waiver is structured, education officials “will have a better idea how to keep you from getting into intervene status to begin with.”
“We can try to better identify resources we need to have in place to prevent a school from going into intervene status,” he said.
The waiver, meanwhile, offers a more realistic time-line and achievement growth targets. Schools now will have annual measurable objectives to meet for proficiency, Pratt-Dannals said.
In addition, the waiver allows for a fifth, or “hybrid option,” under intervene status, Pratt Dannals said. This option gives districts more flexibility to use a combination of turnaround strategies and allows more time for the strategies to work. Duval is using a similar method for its intervene schools with Educational Directions, he said.
Robinson said the waiver “will strengthen the state’s ability to tailor its program to meet Florida’s unique educational needs.” It also “will better align state and federal accountability systems into one cohesive, easy-to-understand structure,” Robinson said.
Robinson noted approval of the state’s request is just one step in a process required to move forward with the flexibility waiver.
Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news
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