Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Florida ranks all public schools

If you think people get competitive about school quality in Charlotte,  check out the latest from Florida,  a state that already grades schools from A to F.  The Florida Department of Education is now ranking all schools from highest to lowest,  based on test scores in the lower grades and additional factors,  such as graduation rates,  for high schools.

The Orlando Sentinel reports that Gov. Rick Scott touts the ratings as a boost to giving students a world-class education that points them toward successful careers.  Meanwhile, a teacher union leader decries the idea of rating schools "like shampoos" and says that test scores provide "very accurate measures of the size of the houses near a given school and the income levels of the people who live in those houses."

Back home, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is still working through its school-data problems.  Board Chair Ericka Ellis-Stewart and Vice Chair Mary McCray were planning to talk with interim Superintendent Hugh Hattabaugh today about how to deal with inaccuracies in the latest school progress reports.  CMS had originally planned to release corrected reports Friday; the public information office now says it will take longer.

13 comments:

BolynMcClung said...

WHAT TWO FORMER CMS SUPERINTENDENTS WERE RUNNING FLORIDA SCHOOLS UNTIL RECENTLY?

From 2007 to 2011,Eric Smith was the State Commissioner of Education and Dr. Frances Haithcock was the Chancellor,

Both gone, probably due to the change in governors.

Bolyn McClung
Pinevile

Anonymous said...

Charlotte (CMS) should do the same. That will help people who move here know what they're getting into.

Anonymous said...

2:00
You've obviously never been reassigned which is what happens if a school is considered too good or, thanks to Dr. Gorman, too bad. In the spirit of fairness, the goal is to make every CMS school mediocre by playing with attendance boundary lines. I anticipate another assignment dust-up within the next 2 years. It's what CMS does best on an A - F grading system.

Anonymous said...

If we have another re-districting dont send your child too the new school zone. Simply enroll them were you want closest to home as CMS cannot deny your child a education in a safe manner. If they balk call the State Govs. office and report it. Judge Manning as well he would love to work another case in Charlotte ! Live were you want to live.

Christine Mast said...

This "data issue" has gotten beyond embarrassing for the district. I have to wonder if the candidates who are applying for the Superintendent position read these articles and comments...

Anonymous said...

I guess we made it another year without some student-athlete being skewered for residing in the wrong zone. Is Florida ranking school athletic teams too?

Anonymous said...

Come on, Mississippi ranked itself as having the highest reading scores in the United States despite the rest of the country ranking the state last. If CMS wants to make up a bunch of numbers than what's the harm? I can see it on Kindle now:

Princeton Review
"The Best 342 Urban Public School Systems"

Refer Madness
1. CMS

Happiest School Board
1. CMS

School System Runs Like Butter
1. CMS

Easiest Student Assignment Plan to Understand
1. CMS

Best Maps
1. CMS

Most Conservative School Board
1. CMS

Election? What Election?
1. District 6, CMS

Education Central-Community Relations are Great
1. CMS

Fire Safety Honor Roll
1. CMS

Return on Investment (ROI)
1. CMS

Highest Anticipated Graduation Rate
1. CMS!!!

Academic Rating 100!

Wiley Coyote said...

I'm waiting for Project LIFT to be declared a success next week, even though not one dime has been spent on the program.

An Observer opinion piece in the past few days touted a similiar philanthropy project in Boston and how great the increases in test scores were and drop in dropout rates.

Only problem is as I saw it, all those improvements happened BEFORE one dime of the money was spent.

Project LIFT should have 50 cameras pointed at it and 10 independent data analysts for every lobbyist this group hires.

Anonymous said...

On second thought, I think it was S.C. that scored themselves as having the highest national reading rate.

Best Pliable Statistics Office
1. CMS

Anonymous said...

2:009 PM, most of us can tell you that list anyway. Actually, most of downtown CMS can tell you that list too. But they will not.

Anonymous said...

Who's wagering bets where Dr. Gorman's daughter will attend high school next year? Will it be South Meck. or wil the family make a "highly personal decision" to attend Providence Day School?

Anonymous said...

Well, good.

At least my big house is worth SOMETHING...

Anonymous said...

Rankings are nice.

Of course you need some standards in order to make them mean something.

I like the international standards.

CMS as a whole would rank in the bottom 25% of schools in Finland, for example.

And in the bottom 1/3 in Singapore and Canada.

So, any ranking CMS comes up for its own comparison should reference the outside world for a realistic comparison.

This is a start:

http://globalreportcard.org/map.html