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Santa Rosa Schools Ranked No. 2 In Florida; Escambia At No. 44
January 24, 2012
The Santa Rosa County School District was ranked No. 2 in the state while the Escambia County School District was ranked No. 44 in student performance in rankings released Monday by the Florida Department of Education.
Santa Rosa County was one of 30 districts in the state that received an A from the state, while Escambia County was one of 23 to receive a B.
Thirty-five percent of the students in Escambia County taking the FCAT read below grade level (Level 3), 32% percent are below grade level in math and 52% are below grade level in science. In Santa Rosa County, 20 percent were below grade level in reading, 17% below grade level in math and 38% below grade level in science.
“Education is our highest priority,” said Santa Rosa County Superintendent Tim Wyrosdick. “As educators, we see ourselves as servant leaders who demand excellence and put kids first. We have tremendous support from our community and our partners. They understand that quality of life and high quality education are tied together.”
Wyrosdick said that the district uses data-driven progress monitoring with teachers reviewing data daily so they can identify where they may need to intervene with students early in the year to help them improve.
The numerical ranking is based on each school’s total points derived from FCAT scores. The total is the sum of scores for reading, math, science and writing; learning gains in reading and math; and scores for learning gains in reading and math among the lowest 25 percent of students in each school. The school district ranking is determined by the school grade points they earned based on the assessment scores of all students in the district that were enrolled for the full year.
“Santa Rosa County deserves congratulations for this accomplishment,” said Florida Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson. “Ranking in the top ten takes commitment, hard work and collaboration not only from those within the educational setting; it takes the support of the entire community.”
Comments
12 Responses to “Santa Rosa Schools Ranked No. 2 In Florida; Escambia At No. 44”
REGARDING:
“I never said that racism was involved – I said that they tried to justified their comments based on race.”
Now YOU’ve gotten me confused. You say racism isn’t involved when comments are based on race. “And for anyone that would try and justify their remarks based on race is ignorant.”
I think we agree individuals are responsible for their individual actions.
If I’m wrong again, this comment thread has ended so I probably won’t ever know for sure.
Best wishes
I never said that racism was involved – I said that they tried to justified their comments based on race. I wouldn’t even question the statement had they simply stated “Middle/Upper class communities” INSTEAD of “Middle/Upper class WHITE communities”
Please correct me if I was wrong, but it seems to me that the comment was based on race
I feel that instead of trying to blame the shortcomings on outside factors the parents should accept a portion of accountability. I have been out of school for over twenty years and yet I struggle to help my child that attends high school in Santa Rosa County in any way that I am able to ensure that he succeeds. And, no, my family is NOT Middle/Upper class. We struggle financially just to survive on the salary that I receive from the job that I have working for the state. My wife is unable to work due to injuries sustained from an automobile accident.
I just feel that it is a cop-out to blame outside factors for things that are within your control as a parent.
RJay for “responsible parenting”
REGARDING:
“Could you please explain this comment?”
No, I can’t.
The writer went on to say race didn’t factor in but had mentioned “Middle/Upper class white communities” having a better general performance. The two statements seem at odds with each other.
It is a peculiar matter and you may be right that racism was involved If so, I was wrong.
Still- – - .
By the way, was he wrong? How did members of the black Middle/Upper class do? How did members of the white Lower class do? The Korean lower class? the Korean Middle/Upper class? Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera
Consider the skin colors of Indians, Pakistanis, Koreans, Vietnamese, Chinese and how they tend to perform academically. It seems color certainly doesn’t factor in. Culture does and mention of “Middle/Upper class” makes a distinction. It’s worth pondering as to how each member got in those classes, how they stay in them, how they leave one to enter another, if their cultural attitudes differ from attitudes in other neighborhoods. If people with different values tend to avoid each other.
I HAVE seen people who accused others of abandoning their race whenever they adopted or simply had the values of some other socio-economic group. They called them Oreos. For some it seemed to be more important than the quality of life of their children.
I remember seeing a friend at college on the day the Reverend H. K. Matthews had called for a boycott of the schools. I asked her why she was there that day. She responded, “He isn’t paying my tuition.” Last I heard she was still in the middle class. (I wonder if she’ll be at our 40 year reunion this year and if we will even have one.)
David for perfect students
with proper priorities
an apple for the teacher on January 24th, 2012 7:27 am COMMENTED
All one has to do is look at the FCAT scores to see this. Middle/Upper class white communities score higher on the FCAT.
David Huie Green on January 25th, 2012 8:40 pm COMMENTED
REGARDING:
“And for anyone that would try and justify their remarks based on race is ignorant.”
So far nobody has, so it is interesting you would call ignorant what wasn’t said
David for perfect parents
Well, Could you please explain this comment?
RJay for “saying what you mean”
REGARDING:
“And for anyone that would try and justify their remarks based on race is ignorant.”
So far nobody has, so it is interesting you would call ignorant what wasn’t said.
David for perfect parents
First and foremost, I would like to say that I am a very proud parent of a student in the Santa Rosa County school system. And, yes, I would have to agree that home life makes a major difference. With that being said I believe that it is utterly pathetic for anyone to sit and blame the school system and then comment that home life makes a big difference in the same conversation. This indicates a sheer lack of common sense if you think logically about some of these comments. And for anyone that would try and justify their remarks based on race is ignorant.
This is a VERY TRUE AND IMPORTANT point you have made:
***Home life makes a BIG difference in how well kids perform in school.***
I also agree with Oversight & An apple. Most of the people who reside in Santa Rosa do not work there. They work in Escambia County or Okaloosa County. The more affluent people who are able travel the distance are going to live and raise their children in an area that boast better results. Those same people often times have attained higher educations themselves and are better equipped to help their children achieve better grades. Jobs are not that plentiful in Santa Rosa County and I would imagine the school district there is one of the largest employers. Who would be better equipped to help their own children than a teacher? An apple does not fall far from the tree!
I agree with an apple for the teacher to some degree. There are lots of kids doing without the help and support of their parents. Some parents just don’t seem to care, they put other things and self ahead of their children. Some parents don’t know how to help their children because they came from homes that gave them no help. Then there are some teachers who shouldn’t be teaching. I’m thankful that I don’t have children going to school here in Escambia County. The degree of education seems to have slippeds in the preceding years. I don’t agree with FCAT. What was wrong with learning READING, WRITING, ARITHMATIC, SCIENCE with geography & history thrown in too. I know that this is an age of electronics, BUT, not all children have computers, Ipods, etc. They all need the basics. If we suddenly had a massive power failure, that lasted for an indiffient period of time, where would this country be? No calculators, no computers – OH MY!
We’re Number 44.
We’re Number 44.
We’re Number 44.
It lacks that power of
We’re Number ONE
- – - – -
Being number 44 wouldn’t even be bad if students were still performing well and it just meant our standing among greats rather than our poor standing in general, but some aren’t as seen by the fact that over half don’t understand science at the level expected. Some never will.
I don‘t know if the expectations were reasonable or not, but we could lower our expectations and think we were doing well when we weren‘t; we could have them too high and think we were doing poorly when we weren‘t.
I think Oversight is right but we tend to blame the teachers, the schools or the test itself whenever we don’t ace it. After all, parents or students surely have nothing to do with how students do.
David for accepting reality
and improving
or griping and lagging
You nailed it Oversight. It’s strictly demographics. Nothing magic being done by Santa Rosa. All one has to do is look at the FCAT scores to see this. Middle/Upper class white communities score higher on the FCAT. Not being racist…just look at the numbers. My wife teaches in Escambia County…you’d be amazed at how ill prepared a lot of low-income kids (of any race) are for school. Many get no support from home, and are taught nothing at home…never had someone hold them in their lap and read them a book as a little child. Home life makes a BIG difference in how well kids perform in school.
It’s a matter of demographics as Santa Rosa and Escambia are apples and oranges when it comes to school populations.