Homestead Schools' Grades are IN!

Excerpt from Miami Herald article:  Florida school grades drop under new formula.

Even though student test scores have held steady — and are in some cases rising — Florida has a record-high 107 F-rated schools this year, state education leaders announced on Friday.

That has put supporters of Florida’s A-to-F grading system on the defensive. And the total number of failing schools only stands to get larger, as letter grades for high schools and some combination schools haven’t been tabulated yet.

The drop in school grades is a result of dozens of changes to the school-grading formula in recent years, at least some of which made it more difficult for schools to perform well. The state says it is “raising the bar” to make sure students are fully prepared for college or a career, but the constantly shifting standards have left school districts and school administrators crying foul.

“If you look at the key indicators, we did go up,” said Kathleen John-Louissaint, principal of Morningside K-8 Academy in Miami. “We are doing well … the grade doesn’t really reflect what we’re really doing as a school.”

Miami-Dade Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said, “There is no validity necessarily attached to this year’s A, B, C, D or F.”

School Grades Reference:  Miami Hearld
Source:  Florida Department of Education