Florida unveiled a new school assessment system this year, and Escambia County Public Schools maintained an overall B grade for the 2022-2023 school year.
However, there were several schools, particularly at the elementary level, that raised alarms when ranked against other school districts across the state.
According to data released by the Florida Department of Education, only 10% of Florida’s 1,809 elementary schools received a score of under 100 points, including seven in Escambia County, awarding them either D or F grades.
Brentwood, Ensley and O.J. Semmes elementary school all earned D grades. Montclair,Warrington and Lincoln Park elementary schools, along with Global Learning Academy, received F grades for the year.
The lowest scoring school, Lincoln Park Elementary, which received a score of 43, dropped to an F this year after earning a B during the 2021-22 school year.
By comparison, the highest scoring elementary school, Somerset Academy Miramar South in Broward County, received a score of 292.
Because of the change in testing, this year’s round of tests was only intended to provide “baseline” information to the district regarding its schools’ performances, and low scores did not come with consequences.
Overall, nine of the district’s schools received a D or F grade, with Warrington Middle School and Bellview Middle School both earning D grades.
Warrington is now under the control of Charter Schools USA after the district came to a contract agreement earlier this year. A plan is also in place for Bellview Middle School, which will be the third school in Escambia County to adopt the Community Partnership Schools model intended to increase graduation rates, reduce disciplinary actions and increase parental involvement.
Some schools that made the list, like O.J. Semmes Elementary, have already been a point of concern on the district − and state’s − radar.
Though Semmes earned an F for 2021-22 school year, the state allowed schools to opt out of recording the grade. O.J. Semmes chose to opt out. Because of the exemption, Semmes was still only in year one of a "District-managed turnaround” in terms of state accountability.
The State Board of Education warned the school district it needed to make improvements last October, as the elementary school could follow in Warrington’s footsteps.
“I want to make sure it is clear, and I have heard clearly from this board, that there’s a sense of urgency not only to make sure that the issue at Warrington is cured, but that we do not have a second issue in this district with O.J. Semmes," Sen. Manny Diaz, commissioner for the Florida Department of Education, said at the time.
Warrington Elementary pulled itself out of the danger zone for the 2021-22 school year by earning a C after earning consecutive Ds in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 school years. School grades for 2019-20 and 2020-21 were not evaluated. However, when the 2022-2023 school grades were released, the school had received a F.
Montclair and Global Learning Academy both received a D during 2021-22 school year, even before the standards and assessment styles had changed, but have have since dropped to an F.
What were some of the major differences this year?
In the school board’s workshop on Friday, ECPS Data Scientist James Bobbitt provided an update on the school grades, including the challenges of this year's test specifically. This included a modified grading scale that varied across elementary, middle and high school.
The reason for the modified scale was because there were no learning gains recorded for 2022-23, there were new tests on new standards, and a new scale score for each level.
“That’s why there was a change because we did not have our normal school grading system,” Bobbitt said.
The “branching” component will also take time for students, and teachers, to adjust to as the questions get progressively more difficult as they go, he said.
“It doesn’t matter how many questions a student gets right, it matters the level of questions they get right on their score,” Bobbitt said. “As teachers, we don’t know what level of the questions the students get right or wrong. We just know they got a question right or wrong.”
Part of this adjustment will be teaching students new test-taking strategies.
What are Interim Superintendent Keith Leonard's plans?
ECPS Interim Superintendent Keith Leonard said the district used the available data to predict school grades ahead of time and had been working since July to make improvements at struggling schools.
"When we did finally receive the final grades, baseline academic performance information, we were not surprised because we were able to drill down with data scientist early on where we thought we might end up," Leonard said. "It would not be fair to say that we were pleased, of course we were disappointed.
"We don't plan on making excuses. We plan on making improvements, is where we are," Leonard added.
The district is reallocating staff from its school transformation office from auxiliary responsibilities and focusing on the schools with greatest areas of need. This meant providing lesson modeling with teachers, reviewing state standards, teaching test-taking methods – "the entire gamut," according to Leonard – to help students achieve an academic performance level of satisfactory or greater.
Also, within the classrooms, the district is makingsure teachers are providing differentiated instruction for each student (modified lessons to meet their learning level), and subject area specialists, instructional coaches and level directors are all working alongside teachers to provide support.
However, Leonard said they need support from outside the school's walls, from people who are committed to working with the students.
"When less than half the kindergarten is ready to read, it's a steep hill to climb," Leonard said.
"Really, what we need is for our community to rally around and assist us. We need mentors, we need volunteers, adults in children's lives that care. We not only need involvement, we need support," Leonard said. "I believe that’s what our community will do.”
He said not only is the consistent presence of an adult beneficial in helping students make academic progress, but also in developing confidence within them, which he said is "critical in younger years."
For schools like O.J. Semmes, he has already watched the community step in, with some churches "adopting" the students for various outreach events.
Previously:Pensacola's O.J. Semmes Elementary earned 2 straight Fs. Florida wants answers and action.
Leonard said that many people have forgotten about the progress schools like C.A. Weis have made, which is part of the Community Partnership Schools model. The elementary school went from a series of Ds and Fs from 2014 to 2018, to a consistent span of Cs starting in 2019 that has sustained itself all the way into 2023.
He foresees this upward trajectory as possible for all the schools on the list.
Leonard said he expects to see a positive change in Bellview Middle School once the Community Partnership Schools model is implemented. Leonard said he would like to seek funding to bring the model to other schools, including Warrington Elementary School.
He said he is starting to see progress at schools like O.J. Semmes, which underwent serious staffing issues last school year that have since been resolved.
He anticipates the same happening for Lincoln Park Elementary, which lost a veteran administrator last school year and suffered other staffing shortages. However, he sees improvement coming once the staffing situation stabilizes.
"What they've been able to do (at O.J. Semmes) is build a stable team of teachers and show that learning can occur," he said. "The trajectory is moving in the right direction."
