All Manatee District High Schools Receive A or B Grades for the First Time Ever

BRADENTON – Four of seven Manatee District high schools earned A grades from the state and for the first time all seven district high schools earned either an A or B grade, according to 2013 High School Accountability Grades released Wednesday by the Florida Department of Education. The strong showing by Manatee District high schools continues a recent trend of improvement. Last year marked the first time all Manatee District high schools earned an A, B or C grade from the state.

Braden River High, Lakewood Ranch High, Southeast High and Manatee School for the Arts all earned A grades. Palmetto High raised its grade from a C in 2012 to a B in 2013, while Bayshore High maintained its B grade from a year ago. Manatee High just barely slipped from an A grade in 2012 to a B grade in 2013, because it didn’t meet the bottom quartile growth requirement in math.

The grades released today are as follows:

“Hats off to our students, teachers and principals who contributed to this fantastic showing among our high schools,” said Deputy Superintendent of Instructional Services Dr. Diana Greene. “This is evidence of the tremendous dedication and commitment being devoted to the success of our students.”

Florida’s High School Accountability system grades schools based not only on student performance on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT), but also on their ability to graduate students, increase student participation and performance in advanced coursework, and better prepare students for college and career.

Under the requirements - for a combined total of 1600 points possible - 50 percent of a high school’s grade is based on the performance of their students on the FCAT 2.0/End of Course (EOC) Assessments (up to 800 points possible), and the remaining 50 percent is based on factors that include the following (for up to 800 points possible):

· The school’s graduation rate.

· The performance and participation of students in Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), Dual Enrollment, Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE), and industry certification. 

· The postsecondary readiness of the students as measured by the SAT, ACT, or College Placement Test (CPT). 

· The high school graduation rate of at-risk students. 

· Growth or decline in these data components from year to year. 

Grade scale is as follows: A >= 1050; B 990 to 1049; C 870 to 989; D 790 to 869; F < 790.