‘Real numbers’: Gov. DeSantis trumpets improved school grades

Florida’s Governor is celebrating academic achievements in K-12 schools.

“I’m happy to announce that Florida schools earned improved grades across all school types, including 71% of all graded schools now earning either an ‘A’ or a B grade,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said in the Oceanway area of Jacksonville.

“That’s a really big deal. This exceeds our performance last year, in which 64% of schools earned an ‘A’ or a ‘B’ grade.”

He noted that 4% more elementary schools, 9% more middle schools and 10% more high schools got “A’s” than the year before.

“In raw numbers, that means nearly 200,000 more students are enrolled in ‘A’ and ‘B’ schools in the past academic year than in the previous academic year. So that’s some real numbers,” DeSantis said.

Moving away from “high stakes, end-of-year” tests was another necessary reform, DeSantis said, to give “real-time, actionable assessments” via thrice-yearly Florida Assessment of Student Thinking (FAST) progress monitoring assessments in math and English, as well as End-of-Course (EOC) and Science assessments.

DeSantis noted “substantial gains” in “every single statewide assessment” measured in English Language Arts and mathematics.

“We believe in innovating,” DeSantis said, crediting “progress monitoring” with “improved student achievement.”

Anastasios Kamoutsas, who will likely serve as the next Florida Department of Education Commissioner, said the announcement is a “direct reflection” of the efforts of teachers, parents and students.