The grades are in! Okaloosa schools earn A in 2021-2022 assessments. See how your school did

School and district grades were recently released by the Florida Department of Education, and the Okaloosa School District received an overall grade of A, one of 14 school districts in the state to earn the highest rating.

Statewide assessment results are a major component in calculating school grades. Middle and high schools also have an academic acceleration component for students who are successful in advanced classes or who earn industry certifications. High schools have a graduation rate component as well.

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Superintendent of Schools Marcus Chambers said he was pleased with the results overall, considering the challenges of the past two years.

“Okaloosa joins St. Johns and Sarasota as the only three counties in the state to earn an A rating every year since the baseline year for the Florida Standards Assessment (FSA) in 2014-2015," Chambers said. "That’s something of which we can all be very proud!”

Individual school grades were posted as well, with the following results:

• Seventeen schools maintained their grade from the last time it was reported for the 2018-2019 school year

• Eleven schools fell one letter grade, from either A to B or B to C

• Five schools fell two letter grades, from A to C

•  Three schools — Fort Walton Beach High School, Choctawhatchee High School and Crestview High School — received an “I” for incomplete. District staff is working with the Department of Education to resolve that issue.

• No schools received a D or F

Chambers said the past two years have been unprecedented in public education.

“We felt that coming through the last two years of COVID could definitely have an impact on student performance and school grades, particularly in the elementary level where third-grade students have only known going to school in an abnormal environment," he said. "Four of the five schools that fell two letter grades were elementary schools. We are excited to see how quickly these schools rebound to their former performance levels.”

While it is expected that high-ranking districts such as Okaloosa outperform state averages, which it did in every tested category released last week, Chambers highlighted a few areas in which he was particularly proud.

“We continue to do very well in Algebra I, with 65% of our students proficient compared to the state average of 54%, and in Geometry, with 65% proficient compared to the state average of 50%," he said. "In middle school Civics, 74% of students were proficient compared to the state average of 69%, and in U.S. History, 73% were proficient compared to the state average of 65%. U.S. History and Civics are a very important part of our curriculum, and we want to continue to excel in this area.”

Secondary science was also a strong point, with eighth-grade science results showing 60% of students proficient compared to the state average of 45%. In Biology, which is tested in ninth grade, 69% of students were proficient compared to the state average of 61%.

Grades seven and eight Mathematics results showed 62% and 54% of students proficient, compared to state averages of 46% and 42%, respectively.

Chambers expressed confidence that plans are in place to continue improving student performance in the coming years.

“Our teachers, administrators, educational support professionals and most importantly, our students and parents, deserve so much credit for the resilience they showed this year that produced these results," he said. "We will continue to focus our efforts on the important work that lies ahead in order to provide our students the best opportunities to be successful.

“While celebrating the success achieved by our students as a whole, we will re-focus efforts in certain areas such as early elementary ELA and in schools where we did not see the results we anticipated,” he added.

The district earlier reported that third-grade proficiency had dropped from 63% to 58%. Fourth grade ELA had a 58% proficiency rate, one point above the state average of 57%.

Those efforts began with an expanded Summer Intensive Studies program this year that served not only retained elementary students who were working to earn promotion to the next grade level, but also any student having academic need.

At the middle and high school levels, students used the summer program to retake coursework that was not passed during the year and completed 2,345 semester courses in total, which helped keep them on track for graduation.

Additional plans for the upcoming year include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Increased opportunities for one-on-one tutoring for students during and after the school day in the fall using specific student data to prescribe individualized learning opportunities.

• Additional ELA and Math coaches will be placed in schools to support teacher development to improve student learning.

• To increase the academic support for students with disabilities, elementary ESE teachers participated in a professional development institute to learn explicit, systematic reading strategies. These research-based strategies are proven to help young readers who have learning deficiencies such as dyslexia. Secondary ESE teachers will engage in professional development to learn additional strategies to support the reading and math remediation of our middle and high school students.

• Knowing mental wellness impacts the academic and social progress of students, the district has expanded mental health services available to all students with the addition of more school-based providers. Parents/guardians who have concerns may contact their child’s school for more information regarding available services.

“We’ll continue to support our teachers, educational support professionals, and administrators by providing them with the tools they need to positively impact our children,” Chambers said.

Parents can learn more about their students’ performance by contacting their school. The Department of Education is creating a Statewide Family Portal through which parents can access student results securely. Data should be placed in the portal by DOE no later than July 29.

For overall district and school results, visit

https://www.fldoe.org/accountability/assessments/k-12-student-assessment/results/2022.stml#FSA

https://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/5663/urlt/Grade-LevelFS2022.pdf

https://www.fldoe.org/accountability/accountability-reporting/school-grades/

This is the last year that the FSA will be given. New legislation authorizes the replacement of the year-end FSA with the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking (FAST), a progress-monitoring approach that will provide teachers and parents with statewide assessment information throughout the school year rather than only during the summer.

This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Okaloosa School District ranked A+ in 2021-2022 Florida assessments