December 18, 2013

The release of high school grades, today, by the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) comes on the heels of the good news released last week regarding improvement in high school graduation rates.

“We have cause to celebrate today,” said Dr. Kamela Patton, Superintendent of Collier County Public Schools. “All but one of our eight comprehensive high schools received an ‘A.’ That one, Immokalee High School, received its first-ever ‘B’ and they missed being an ‘A’ by just 32 points out of a possible 1,050 needed to earn an ‘A.’ I am happy to report that Golden Gate and Palmetto Ridge high schools received an ‘A’ for the first time in each school’s 10-year history.” Dr. Patton emphasized that she is proudest of the work done by our teachers, school counselors, other school staff, school and district administrators, and the outside organizations that provide assistance to help at-risk students achieve. “You can see the results in the school grades today and in the graduation rates released last week, especially those rates specifically assigned to our at-risk student population.” Students who scored at Level 1 or 2 on FCAT Reading and Math in 8th grade are considered to be at-risk. The at-risk graduation rate improved for all high schools.

“I am very pleased with how we performed compared to the rest of the state,” said Dr. Patton. While 48% of Florida’s high schools received an “A,” 88% of our high schools received an “A”!

The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) accounts for 800 points which is only half of the 1,600 points used to compute high school grades. The other 800 points (50%) of the high school grade is computed by including non-FCAT components such as the graduation rate of all students and those identified as academically at-risk, participation and performance of students in accelerated coursework, and the post-secondary readiness of students.

We are very proud of our high school accomplishments; however, we need to remember the FCAT is the only accountability measure used to calculate elementary and middle school grades. Therefore, we are asking the state to include multiple non-FCAT measures in determining the grades of these schools.

While Everglades City School, a kindergarten through grade 12 school, is classified as a high school by the state for school grading purposes, it did not have the minimum number of students required to calculate the non-FCAT components.  

To follow is a table showing each school’s total points and grade.

Kamela Patton, Ph.D.
Superintendent of Schools