Dive Brief:
- As Florida transitions into the Common Core and its new American Institutes for Research-developed test, lawmakers have decided to put a one-year pause on its school grading system.
- The state's grading system, which assigns letter grades to schools, has traditionally been tied to the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, but officials want to use 2015's new tests as the new baseline.
- While the law, which must still be approved by Gov. Rick Scott, mandates only a one-year gap in the grading system, superintendents in the state have been suggesting a three-year freeze.
Dive Insight:
As NPR points out, tests are only good if they are valid, and creating a baseline is necessary to assess that. Using next year as a baseline will allow future school letter grades to have context and actually mean something to the parents viewing them and trying to decide where to send their kids.
