Selina Iglesias
Greene Publishing, Inc.
The Florida Department of Education (FDOE) has the Florida Standards Assessments (FSA) in place to help students succeed in English (ELA), mathematics, history, science, social studies and end-of-course (EOC) subjects by measuring learning gains and progress, and recently, the FDOE released the FSA results for the 2015-2016 school year for Madison County:
English EOC results for the district
Third grade, 193 students: testing score of 297, 47 percent passed
Fourth grade, 191 students: testing score of 300, 34 percent passed
Fifth grade, 176 students: testing score of 309, 34 percent passed
Sixth grade, 178 students: testing score of 317, 31 percent passed
Seventh grade, 145 students: testing score of 316, 25 percent passed
Eighth grade, 155 students: testing score of 328, 36 percent passed
Ninth grade, 192 students: testing score of 330, 31 percent passed
10th grade, 188 students: testing score of 341, 34 percent passed
Science EOC results for the district
Fifth grade, 176 students: testing score of 193, 39 percent passed
Eighth grade, 115 students: testing score of 184, 17 percent passed
U.S. History EOC results for the district
10th grade, 16 students: testing score of 394, 31 percent passed
11th grade, 126 students: testing score of 393, 42 percent passed
Civics EOC results for the district
151 students: testing score of 384, 38 percent passed
Science EOC results for the district
Fifth grade, 176 students: testing score of 193, 39 percent passed
Eighth grade, 115 students: testing score of 184, 17 percent passed
Biology 1 EOC results for the district
Eighth grade, 41 students: testing score of 405, 71 percent passed
Ninth grade, 76 students: testing score of 387, 39 percent passed
10th grade, 105 students: testing score of 385, 33 percent passed
Algebra 1 EOC results for the district
Eighth grade, 18 students: testing score of 506, 78 percent passed
Ninth grade, 116 students: testing score of 470, 11 percent passed
Algebra 2 EOC results for the district
10th grade, 59 students: testing score of 508, 46 percent passed
11th grade, 33 students: testing score of 482, 21 percent passed
Geometry EOC results for the district
Eighth grade, 18 students: testing score of 516, 89 percent passed
Ninth grade, 65 students: testing score of 501, 57 percent passed
10th grade, 54 students: testing score of 492, 37 percent passed
11th grade, 35 students: testing score of 468, 3 percent passed
12th grade, 12 students: testing score of 465, 17 percent passed
Mathematics EOC results for the district
Third grade, 192 students: testing score of 302, 63 percent passed
Fourth grade, 194 students: testing score of 304, 43 percent passed
Fifth grade, 177 students: testing score of 312, 41 percent passed
Sixth grade, 178 students: testing score of 314, 31 percent passed
Seventh grade, 152 students: testing score of 320, 34 percent passed
Eighth grade, 120 students: testing score of 326, 29 percent passed
These scores contribute to the overall district grade as well as the school's grades.
As readers might recall, the 2016 grades for the district schools were:
Greenville Elementary, B
Lee Elementary, C
Madison County Central, D
Madison County High School, D
Pinetta Elementary, A
James Madison Prep, C
The district as a whole received a “C.” This grade is based on the overall performance of every school.
Every year, the FDOE uses a point system based on student achievement and progress in order to decide which grade each school in the district will receive. This year, FDOE assessed each school in the district with four achievement components: English and language arts, mathematics, science and social studies. These components include student performance on statewide standard assessments, including comprehensive assessments, EOC assessments and Florida Alternate Assessments (FAA). In addition, FDOE also took a look at learning gains. High school grades are based off of graduation rate, dual enrollment and industry certification.
Learning gains means that the student demonstrates growth from one year to the next year. If learning gains are not achieved sufficiently, the schools will be unable to improve their grades.
Brown reports that PES did well across the board of achievement, with a 90 percent pass rate. The students in the fourth and fifth grade showed learning gains.
Although GES drastically changed its 2015 grade of an “F” to a “B,” for the second time in history, Brown points out that, statistically, smaller schools such as GES have a hard time keeping their good grades and achieving learning gains. LES dropped from their 2015 grade of an “A” to a “C” because of their difficulty achieving learning gains. However, Brown anticipates that LES and PES will be high performance schools.
MCCS and MCHS are low-performing schools but Brown is hopeful that they will show improvement.
Brown points out that, statistically, many low-performing schools have students who are stricken by poverty, whether at the state poverty level or below.
However, Brown does not see this as a setback. “All students can learn,” said Brown. “We aren't looking at poverty as an excuse, but [as] a reality.”
Despite all of the challenges the schools are facing, Brown is still confident that things will improve.
“[The district] has to have everyone on board to improve the schools,” said Brown. “I feel good about the next year. I feel our district is poised for success and we're going to have good things this [upcoming school] year.”