MARION COUNTY – Grades are up in Marion County for both the district and several schools.
Florida’s Department of Education released school grades Monday, stressing the 2022-2023 grades “carry no negative consequences” because of Florida’s first-in-the-nation transition to using progress monitoring instead of traditional high-stakes testing. These latest grades serve as baseline data and carry no penalty.
Marion County Public Schools is now a “B” school district, up one letter grade over last year. The district earned 59% in total points, up from 53% last year.
As well, five schools earned “A” grades including Dr. NH Jones and Eighth Street Elementary Schools, along with Ina A. Colen Academy, Madison Street Academy, and Ward-Highlands Elementary (up to an “A” this year).
In addition to Ward-Highlands Elementary, seven other schools improved at least one letter grade including Belleview Elementary (B), East Marion Elementary (C), Maplewood Elementary (B), McIntosh Area School (C), Belleview Middle (B), Lake Weir Middle (C), and Belleview High (B).
Marion County has no failing schools.
School grades are based on student performance on Florida’s new Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking (B.E.S.T.) standards. Following the transition to the B.E.S.T. standards, FDOE developed a new test, Florida’s Assessment of Student Thinking (FAST), a progress monitoring system providing teachers, students and parents real-time, immediate and actionable data at the beginning, middle and end of the school year to drive student improvement.
Schools may receive the benefits of an increased school grade by qualifying for school recognition or exiting turnaround status.
For more information contact the Florida Department of Education or click here.