Brittany,

I for one, do not think a school should be rated solely on FCAT scores alone. Hopefully when this changes, the schools score will increase. Scoring a school in this manner only makes the teachers drill in FCAT information to the students, which helps no one. In my opinion, this is not the true test of a schools quality.

I thought the letter was very well written. The principal stated clearly that the school was rated "D" but then went on to explain the ratings and how they do not relect the school performance as a whole. Just to let you know the lowest quadrant of students at the high school level are for the most part those students who have a combination truancy, behavior issues, lack of interest in school, etc. Lets stop blaming the schools for many of these low performing students when clearly the lack of motivation of the student and lack of support of the family are to blame.

It seems a defensive way to start out the year, with your new parents. I'd rather hear about what a great school it is, than get a letter full of explanations why the school has a horrible rating.

Ok, you have a point. He could have painted a little rosier picture. I feel for these poor principals who have to live and die by these letter grades. Hope your son has a great year - I'm sure he will.

My 20-yr old spent her only year at American Heritage as a senior, and said it was the best year of her K-12 life. I think if you have the money, spend it on AH School.

Also, I hope this principal included more info than this one measly page in his envelope. He could have included a list of the accomplishments of the school from 2008-2009, and plans for improvements in 2009-2010.

The letter is fine but not as a welcome letter. Seriously, what was this principal thinking? Has he ever heard of motivating his students and giving them something to look forward to? There might be great things going on at this school, however if I got this letter I surely wouldn't be looking forward to the next school year.

One downside of switching to private school is your child has to part with friends. Maybe I'm overplaying how much that would matter. I moved a lot and I always missed my buddies. I would never have voluntarily left them, at that age.

This is exactly why the current school grading system is wrong! It does not give you an accurate view of what’s really going on in our public schools. The fact that points were deducted because a small population of our students did not make gains is not reflective of our school as a whole. There are a host of reasons why these students did not make the proper learning gains least of which is because our school is “mediocre”. Our school strives to meet the needs of all its students, but there are many other components that influence the ability to learn that go well beyond our school’s walls.

These students might be dealing with personal issues that undermine their learning ability, they may not have the necessary support system at home to help them achieve, and some students plain and simple just don’t want to learn…no matter what school they attend.

Our principal was spot on in sending that letter to all parents. It is his responsibility as principal to keep us informed…and that is exactly what he did. It may not be the news you wanted to hear, but it was an honest, open response to the phone calls and emails he received from concerned parents. Don’t judge a book solely by its cover…look at the content inside!

If you think “private” schools don’t have these types of issues, you’re head is buried in the sand. One of the perks of being a “private” school is that you don’t have to air your “dirty laundry” in public. Just because you don’t read about it, doesn’t mean it’s not happening.

I am the proud parent of two students who are thriving at South Plantation High. If you think we are a “mediocre” school based solely on a school grade, then start packing!

This is exactly why the current school grading system is wrong! It does not give you an accurate view of what’s really going on in our public schools. The fact that points were deducted because a small population of our students did not make gains is not reflective of our school as a whole. There are a host of reasons why these students did not make the proper learning gains least of which is because our school is “mediocre”. Our school strives to meet the needs of all its students, but there are many other components that influence the ability to learn that go well beyond our school’s walls.

These students might be dealing with personal issues that undermine their learning ability, they may not have the necessary support system at home to help them achieve, and some students plain and simple just don’t want to learn…no matter what school they attend.

Our principal was spot on in sending that letter to all parents. It is his responsibility as principal to keep us informed…and that is exactly what he did. It may not be the news you wanted to hear, but it was an honest, open response to the phone calls and emails he received from concerned parents. Don’t judge a book solely by its cover…look at the content inside!

If you think “private” schools don’t have these types of issues, you’re head is buried in the sand. One of the perks of being a “private” school is that you don’t have to air your “dirty laundry” in public. Just because you don’t read about it, doesn’t mean it’s not happening.

I am the proud parent of two students who are thriving at South Plantation High. If you think we are a “mediocre” school based solely on a school grade, then start packing!

I agree with you Ms. Miller, in that I think the schools also should be held accountable for the performance of the middle and top tiers. If you think the school's grade is somewhat insignificant and unfair, then why would you want your principal mailing a letter to all parents announcing the 'D' status?

Our principal was not "announcing" our 'D' status...he was addressing the inquiries he received from parents. Instead of only explaining the issue to the parents that asked, he took what I feel is a proactive approach and addressed it to all parents.

Any well-informed parent knew of the school's letter well before receiving the principal's letter. Our principal took the next reasonable step in trying to explain how we got there. I don't think his intent was to single out any one group of students.

Personally, I prefer to know exactly what is going on in our school staight from the principal...good or bad...than have a glossed-over version of half truths.

Don't get stuck on the "negative"...there's a lot a good going on at South Plantation High!!!

Brittany, You might find the following study interesting regarding the effects of NCLB (i.e. FCAT) from the University of Chicago.

http://www.aei.org/docLib/20070716_NealSchanzenbachPaper.pdf

I definitely agree that FCAT grades do not accurately reflect a school's true performance. I am very glad the State is changing the grading standards, although any accountability method that causes administrators to pay attention to only a few areas of measurement and not take the whole picture into consideration is problematic. One of the problems with the current grading system is that too many principals of D and F schools make changes that affect the whole school and not just the kids who performed poorly. Usually, this means that the kids who are doing well are hurt. Teachers who understand high level kids are moved to the lower quartile even though they can't relate well to that group of kids. High level kids are suddenly subjected to more and more FCAT prep at the expense of learning what they are supposed to learn in their advanced classes (since FCAT is grade level only). College bound kids are hurt with the FCAT prep since the SAT is a much higher level test and the FCAT prep doesn't help for the SAT. I know all of this because one of my kids experienced all of these things. All science classes became Integrated Science even though kids were receiving credit for Biology or Chemistry that they never had. World History AP and Honors became FCAT reading prep, even for kids who scored the highest scores on the FCAT in reading. Etc, Etc. My other child watched all of this and told me he wasn't willing to go through all that and asked that we move him to a non-public school. We did, and I'm thrilled. In fact, just today he took a grammar quiz and we found the public schools have taught him no grammar -- the the non-public school students had no trouble on the quiz while the public school kids couldn't answer much. I know how difficult it is to move a child who doesn't want to move and I understand why a parent wouldn't want to move a child if the child didn't want to go -- that could be disaster. But I feel lucky I was able to make that move. Despite all I've said, I know some great teachers at South Plantation and I think it is still possible to do well at that school as long as the entire school isn't totally upended for the lower quartile. Obviously that group needs something different, but the other kids don't need a change.

Ditto to what Ms. Miller said. I agree with her - her reasons are sound. In addition, take a look at all the high schools' grades in Broward. You'll see that just about the only schools that have "good" grades are those with the lowest number of lower-income students.

Finally, Ms. Wallman, you know your son is not a "D". He is learning, enjoying school, and will no doubt attend a good college. This is all at no cost to you. I call that a successful collaboration between yourself and the Broward County Public Schools.