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Thomas To Serve On School Grading System Task Force
June 26, 2013
Escambia Schools Superintendent Malcolm Thomas will serve on a Florida Department of Education Task Force that will review the state’s system of grading schools ahead of the release of the annual school report cards.
The group was formed amid worries by some educators that a complicated mix of new grading policies could lead to a collapse in scores.
“I look forward to working with superintendents and other task force members as we continue the important job of holding schools accountable and maintaining high expectations for teachers and students,” Florida Education Commissioner Ton Bennett said.
In addition to Bennett, the task force will include five superintendents, several DOE officials and one state lawmaker.
The superintendents include Thomas from Escambia County, Alberto Carvalho of Miami-Dade County, MaryEllen Elia of Hillsborough County, Margaret Smith of Volusia County and Wally Cox of Highlands County.
Dale Chu, the DOE’s chief of staff; Will Krebs, the agency’s deputy chief of staff; Kim McDougal, who handles education policy for Gov. Rick Scott; Jason Rose, director of data and policy for the Jacksonville Public Education Fund; and state Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee, will also serve on the panel.
The advisory task force’s first meeting has been scheduled for July 1 in Tallahassee. Advisory task force members will review FCAT 2.0 and EOC assessment results, as well as other factors to make sure the accountability system is designed in the best interest of Florida’s students.
The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.
Comments
12 Responses to “Thomas To Serve On School Grading System Task Force”
Case in point is the school administration teachers faced big problems in Georgia for the same thing that happens here I guess it’s just different here.
case in point
Whatever I saved all my ese child’s work the teachers did for grade That I did for Grade and who ever else did for grades before anyone says its my fault no it’s not its the systems fault for maininsteming a child who clearly can not do the work but lack of funding is the real reason these children are taught to cheat in life I fought for years then realized it only hurts my child. Drs deal with the crap these children deal with every day because of the mental abuse the children suffer from I’m just looking for a way to record/video the stuff yes I know it can’t be done legal but who cares when the truth shall set one free.
REGARDING:
“Nope, never once was a grade changed…..there are influences outside of the home and the testing environments that can create “Unearned Grades” and it is up to the integrity of the individuals to do what is right.”
And integrity varies and some are less interested in what is right or wrong and some are certain what they are doing is right even though they wouldn‘t do it if everybody were watching.
AND
“On more than one occasion my friend was approached by faculty members who were in charge of athletics and who attempted to pressure them into raising a student’s grade so they could participate in sports.”
The fact they asked others to do it for them surely indicates they didn’t mind doing it themselves.
There were recently reports of widespread answer changing in Atlanta by teachers supposed to proctor the students taking standardized tests.
A professor once remarked that some of his students’ homework was in handwriting other than that of the students handing it in and their test grades always showed lack of understanding they would have had if they had actually done the work, but that their other work pulled their grades up enough to pass. That was at college level.
So, even though none of us has ever seen any example of such things, we know of reports they do exist. They can’t all be chupacabras.
David for recognizing reality
“Unearned Grades” I have a good friend, an outstanding educator who spent hours upon hours outside the classroom helping prepare students for their class, grading papers, making suggestions on how the kids could better study, assisting in easing those “test jitters” and overall doing whatever was needed to bring kids up to the understanding of the subject and trying to instill a curiosity to learn.
On more than one occasion m friend was approached by faculty members who were in charge of athletics and who attempted to pressure them into raising a student’s grade so they could participate in sports. “XYZ” needs to play so how about taking one for the team and giving them a better grade.
Nope, never once was a grade changed…..there are influences outside of the home and the testing environments that can create “Unearned Grades” and it is up to the integrity of the individuals to do what is right.
REARDING:
” Sometime parents “helped” by doing their work for them.”
Let me just say this on my child’s part, there maybe parents that
Do that,however I have never done my child’s work, dont get me wrong
Yes I have helped work out a problem but never have I done the work,
And as for as the teacher being pressured into giving unearned grades or
Showing pity don’t say much for the teacher, and it really don’t say much
If the child makes it to 12th grade, my child has had some very hard teachers.
Yes we have had a bad experience with a couple but as a parent you have to
Stay involved. My child got a award for the highest Academic in her class
So Im pretty sure she wasn’t just given ” unearned grades ” or shown any pity.
REGARDING:
“when I was in high school as long as
You passed your course you received your
Credit and graduated.”
Things have changed since then.
Voters changed them.
People kept seeing examples of two graduates with the same high grades from two different schools yet one could function as expected and the other could not.
That means the taxpayers, parents and children had been cheated out of a good education by someone. Maybe they cheated themselves, maybe the teachers tried but the children simply didn’t learn and the teachers showed pity — figuring it didn‘t matter. Sometime parents “helped” the children by doing their work for them. Still, an unearned grade is a lie to all involved and lies should be avoided.
It was obvious that some teachers were being pressured into giving unearned grades due to certain pressures outside the child’s performance. The attempted solution was to have statewide minimum standards which a child could pass if that child actually had learned the subject as specified.
It’s possible the state set the minimum standards too high or that the test doesn’t accurately reflect whether or not the child met those standards.
That’s worth looking into and seems to be exactly what they are doing.
It’s also possible some children found ways to pass the course without really learning the subject and that the test reflects that fact.
That’s also worth looking into.
David for perfect tests
and better people
Robert S, I couldn’t agree with you more I believe Mr.Thomas
Is the man to handle this.
I completely agree it starts from home and continues
On, these teachers cannot do it alone, there are a lot
Of resources out there, great web sites, I have even had
Teachers send me extra work sheets home..
They really need to figure things out and stay with it
The requirements seem to change once or twice a year
I just talked to the school two weeks ago and it changed again
They have to pass the FCAT reading, EOC Alegbra, and did have to pass the
EOC in Biology but now the EOC in biology only counts
30% of their grade, however if they pass the course in Alegra
They still get their credit..
It just breaks my heart for my child and others that can’t pass this this, but has a
3.0 GPA and has all the credits but will not get a diploma
Because of this… My child is a hard working student and we work just as hard at home.
Sorry for the way this is turning out, I’m on my cell.
As a Citizen of Escambia County and of Florida it is an Honor to have Superintendent Thomas serve on the Education Task Force.
He has a unique ability to see through the smoke and mirrors of problems and amid the mumbo-jumbo of the edu-babble rhetoric to set a well defined goal based on real life situations and describe solutions in clear and concise terms.
ConcernedMom & Lewis T, you both bring to light some of the difficulties in preparing a measurement of student and school progress.
Discipline begins in the home and that does not mean “time out” and punishments. Discipline starts at a very young age instilling responsibility and accountability into a young person. What they see, hear and live through in the home is what they take to school with them. When there are children beginning school who do not know their alphabet or numbers or even colors and shapes there was a “hole” in the home education system. Without a strong and positive home environment it is difficult for the schools, no matter how good the teacher, to begin from scratch and help produce a schooled and responsible person.
Mr. Thomas, you sure have your work cut out for you and I know you are the man to handle the job.
@ Concerned Mom:
I feel your pain! I have concern for my daughter too, although I am fortunate that she has passed her EOC’s and was promoted to the 11th grade at her high school.
If your child doesn’t pass the test and just gets a certificate of completion, then enroll them in a good GED program and help them study to pass the test. That is an equally valid educational program with which individual who pass can promote their educational opportunities in college or other vocational programs. I have three daughters with high school diplomas. One was home schooled, one graduated from pubic school and one earned a GED. There’s more than one way to get a diploma! Don’t give up.
Florida’s standards are very high, and some ways
That’s a good thing, however in my case I have
A child that struggles with test taking, makes
A’ and B’s but cannot pass the EOC nor the
FCAT , that means my child that works really
Hard to make good grades and is a good student
Will not be able to graduate with a diploma only
A certificate of completion, so what do I do?
They base this test if a child get a diploma or not
My child was 1 point off of passing and if you read it
It will say something to the effect ( if retaken on another day
It could read x amount of points either way, I know
Things Change but when I was in high school as long as
You passed your course you recived your
Credit and graduated. I’m proud of all the students that has passed
This test, my child is not a test taker so therefore pays the price..
`Under the system of what we have today, “TESTING”, the controllers of education are concerned about school grades being effected. Well, how many parents are represented on t his committe. Better yet, why isn’t a teacher or two on this committee. They both spend hours on hours working with students,
A young man last week was interview on Mobile TV and was ask what his fell middle school needed to improve. And this 8th grader with not even a high school education, no BA degree or Masters degree, nor political experience hit the nail on the head. He stated his school (the F one) needed discipline. Billions of dollars have went into schools to help the make a goode school gradeyet, this young man used his common sense to identify the serious problem we have in schools.