Florida Department of Education releases 2022-23 school grades

The Florida Department of Education on Dec. 11 released school grades for the 2022-23 school year. 

These scores are the first since Florida’s transition to using progress monitoring instead of traditional high-stakes testing. Grades for the 2022-2023 school year serve as a baseline and carry no negative consequences. 

“These school grades serve as a baseline for districts and provide a starting point for future achievement,” Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz Jr. said. “I look forward to seeing schools rise to the occasion as they continue to provide Florida students a first-rate education.”

When Gov. Ron DeSantis took office in 2019, he charged FDOE with developing new standards that were clear and concise and that outlined what a student should know and be able to do at each grade level. 

After dozens of workgroup meetings with educators and stakeholders were held throughout state over a one-year period, the state Board of Education adopted the new Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking standards.

Following the transition to the B.E.S.T. standards, FDOE developed a new test, Florida’s Assessment of Student Thinking. FAST is a progress-monitoring system that provides teachers, students and parents real-time, immediate and actionable data at the beginning, middle and end of the school year to drive student improvement.

Florida was the first state in the nation to establish a system using progress monitoring.  

West Orange and Southwest Orange schools fared well overall. 

Elementary schools that received A grades include Bay Lake, Bay Meadows, Castleview, Dr. Phillips, Hamlin, Independence, Keene’s Crossing, Lake Whitney, William S. Maxey, Palm Lake, Panther Lake, Sand Lake, Summerlake, Sunset Park, Thornebrooke, Tildenville, Water Spring, Westbrooke, Westpointe, Whispering Oak Elementary and Windermere Elementary.

Middle schools that earned A grades include Bridgewater, Hamlin, Horizon West, SunRidge and Water Spring.

Of the area’s high schools, only Windermere High received an A grade.

A-rated combination/charter schools include Hope Charter, Legacy High Charter, Oakland Avenue Charter and Windy Ridge K-8.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
SCHOOL SCORE GRADE
Bay Lake Elementary    72    A

Bay Meadows Elementary    75    A

Castleview Elementary    76    A

Citrus Elementary    51    B

Dr. Phillips Elementary    70    A

Dillard Street Elementary    47    C

William Frangus Elementary    47    C

Hamlin Elementary    82    A

Independence Elementary    78    A

Keene’s Crossing Elementary    80    A

Lake Whitney Elementary    84    A

William S. Maxey Elementary    64    A

MetroWest Elementary    47    C

Ocoee Elementary    40    100    C

Palm Lake Elementary    71    A

Panther Lake Elementary    75    A

Prairie Lake Elementary    52    B

Sand Lake Elementary    64    A

Spring Lake Elementary    41    C

Summerlake Elementary    86    A

SunRidge Elementary    57    B

Sunset Park Elementary    71    A

Thornebrooke Elementary    81    A

Tildenville Elementary    68    A

Water Spring Elementary    71    A

Westbrooke Elementary    75    A

Westpointe Elementary    64    A

Whispering Oak Elementary    89    A

Windermere Elementary    85    A

MIDDLE SCHOOLS
SCHOOL SCORE GRADE
Bridgewater Middle    76    A

Chain Of Lakes Middle    43    C

Gotha Middle    58    B

Hamlin Middle    77    A

Horizon West Middle    71    A

Lakeview Middle    61    B

Ocoee Middle    53    C

Southwest Middle    61    B

SunRidge Middle    75    A

Water Spring Middle    68    A

HIGH SCHOOLS
SCHOOL SCORE GRADE
Dr. Phillips High    57    C

Horizon High    65    B

Lake Buena Vista High    47    C

Ocoee High    64    B

Olympia High    64    B

West Orange High    68    B

Windermere High    75    A

COMBINATION/CHARTER SCHOOLS
SCHOOL    SCORE    GRADE
Hope Charter    67    A

Legacy High Charter    76    A

Innovation Montessori Ocoee    60    B

Oakland Avenue Charter    71    A

Renaissance Charter At Crown Point    57    B

Windy Ridge K-8    71    A

THE GRADING SCALE
School grades provide a way to measure the performance of a school. Parents and the general public can use the school grade and its components to understand how well each school is serving its students. Schools are graded A, B, C, D or F. 

Each school is graded based on the components for which it has sufficient data. Schools must test at least 95% of their students. 

COMPONENTS
In 2022-23, a school’s grade may include up to seven components. There are four achievement components, a middle-school acceleration component, as well as components for graduation rate and college and career acceleration. Each component is worth up to 100 points in the overall calculation. Learning gains will not be calculated in 2022-23, because there is only one year of the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking assessment results available. Learning gains will return to the school grades calculation for the 2023-24 school year. 

Four Achievement Components: The four achievement components are English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies. These components include student performance on statewide standardized assessments, including the comprehensive assessments and end-of-course assessments. The component measures the percentage of full-year enrolled students who achieved a passing score. 

Middle School Acceleration: This component is based on the percentage of eligible students who passed a high school level EOC assessment or industry certification. 

Graduation Rate: The graduation rate is based on an adjusted cohort of ninth grade students and measures whether the students graduate within four years. 

College and Career Acceleration: This component is based on the percentage of graduates from the graduation rate cohort who earned a passing score on an acceleration examination (qualifying AP, IB or AICE), earned a passing grade in a dual enrollment course that qualified for college credit, earned 300 clock hours through career dual enrollment courses in the same approved program, earned an Armed Services Qualification Test score and two course credits within the same military branch, or earned an industry certification. 

School Grades Calculation: The number of points earned for each component is added together and divided by the total number of available points to determine the percentage of points earned. 

SCHOOL GRADING SCALES
Elementary: A = 62% of points or greater; B = 50% to 61% of points; C = 33% to 49% of points; D = 22% to 32% of points; and F = 21% of points or fewer. 

Middle: A = 68% of points or greater; B = 58% to 67% of points; C = 40% to 57% of points; D = 31% to 39% of points; and F = 30% of points or fewer. 

High: A = 70% of points or greater; B = 60% to 69% of points; C = 40% to 59% of points; D = 23% to 39% of points; and F = 22% of points or fewer. 

Combination: A = 67% of points or greater; B = 56% to 66% of points; C = 35% to 55% of points; D = 23% to 34% of points; and F = 22% of points or fewer.