The FAMU Developmental Research School has improved two letter grades from an F to a C in the latest rating by the state.
Since last year's F grade, FAMU DRS has experienced declining enrollment. In January a new Superintendent for the school was hired. The school is currently looking to replace the school's two principals.
Also see: FAMU students help DRS kids prepare for FCAT
Of course, this is a great improvement, but with the school a part of the university -- and all its resources -- it really should be an "A" school. But I guess we'll take progress where we can. Good job in pulling the school up two grades, though.
ReplyDeleteWhile I'm happy FAMU DRS and all learning institutions are making strides to provide a better education to our students,
ReplyDeleteIT'S STILL ALL POLITICS. Crist wants to be the next VP of the US, and will do anything to get there, even if it means placing our children under the bus tires.
School grades up, AYP down
http://blogs.tampabay.com/schools/
http://blogs.tampabay.com/schools/2008/04/accountability.html
Again, Ammons has shown that he knows what he is doing. He stood firm even when accused of cronyism in hiring Trustee Holmes' brother to oversee the DRS. Where are all the haters?
ReplyDeleteI wasn't a Holmes fan however I don't think anyone wanted the school to suffer.
ReplyDeleteWe are all proud of the children and their achievements please don't discount the efforts of Dr. Campbell and the rest of the faculty who manned the school during the majority of the year before Dr. Holmes even got there.
You won't find the haters now
Trustee Holmes brother had nothing to do with the improvement of the grade this was all done by Dr. Campbell, Richardson and faculty, way before Holmes stepped on the campus the students were on their way to improvement. So way to go Campbell and staff.
ReplyDeleteDitto, 4:38! Holmes just happens to be the HNIC now. The worker bees were already there and working their arses off before he came. Dr. Ms Campbell's work should not be diminshed simply because Holmes is in the seat at the present moment.
ReplyDeleteThe new formula Crist used to calculate school grades is the ONLY reason we saw so many schools go from "F" schools to "C" and "B" schools. So not only do the school loose money for afterschool programs "because they are no longer F schools", but they will also be hit again due to the budget constraints.
ReplyDeleteThe improved grades are not a huge surprise, given statewide FCAT scores that rose in every grade and subject except fifth-grade reading. Students made especially strong gains in ninth- and tenth-grade reading, long a drag on high school grades. High schools also may have benefited from a tweak in the grading formula.
Accountability adjustments
Meeting in Tallahassee today, the Florida Board of Education tweaked the state's school grading formula and nixed a new FCAT graduation requirement.
Until today, a school dropped a full letter grade if at least half of its lowest performing students failed to make gains in reading and math. Now, a school will not face that penalty if it gets at least 40 percent of its lowest-performing students over the hump and that percentage is higher than the year before. Also, a school with less than 40 percent making gains will not be penalized if it improved by at least five percentage points from the prior year.
The board approved the change following a recommendation from the FCAT external advisory committee, which was created last spring after the disclosure of a botched FCAT in 2006. An earlier suggestion to suspend that part of the grading formula caused a minor ruckus, and even prompted former Gov. Jeb Bush to weigh in.
The board also gave Education Commissioner Eric J. Smith the go-ahead to scrap a new provision requiring high school students to pass the writing portion of the tenth grade FCAT to graduate. This year's tenth-graders would have been the first to face that hurdle.
Smith cited "technical issues" and pending budget cuts for his recommendation. As in the past, high school students must still pass the reading and math portions of the FCAT to graduate.
- Ron Matus, state education reporter
And to think they thanked Dr. Campbell for all of her work by firing/reassigning her. Ain't that a blip!
ReplyDeleteShe probably ends up in a better place and less headaches
ReplyDeleteWasn't Dr. Campbell's wacko ass there when the school slipped to an "F" grade? Didn't she preside over that?
ReplyDelete