Florida Department of Education releases Florida school grades

The Florida Department of Education released school grades Wednesday afternoon for the 2017-2018 school year.

“Florida’s schools are continuing to achieve increased success thanks to the hard work of our students and teachers,” Gov. Rick Scott said. “Our years of historic investment in Florida’s K-12 education system are paying off.”

Scott released the following information in a press release:

Statewide Highlights

• Florida now has more than 1,000 “A” schools (1,027 schools) up from 987 in 2017 and 763 in 2016. The percentage of schools earning an “A” increased to 32 percent, up from 30 percent in 2016-17.
• The percentage of schools earning an “A” or “B” grade increased to 58 percent compared to 56 percent last year.
• A total of 1,408 schools maintained an “A” grade (793 schools) or increased their grade (615 schools) in 2017-18.
• High schools had the largest increase in the percentage of schools improving their grade, with 26 percent (115 schools) moving up one or more letter grade.
• The number of “F” schools decreased by 23 percent (10 schools), from 43 schools in 2016-17 to 33 schools in 2017-18.

Low-Performing Schools

• Ninety-six percent of schools graded “F” in 2016-17 improved their grade in 2017-18 by one or more letter grade (23 of 24 schools).
• Sixty-eight percent of schools that earned a “D” or “F” grade in 2016-17 improved by at least one letter grade in 2017-18 (159 schools).
• Sixty-two percent of schools in the second or third year of implementing their turnaround plan improved their letter grade (23 schools).

For information on school grades in Southwest Florida, click here.