By Jeffrey S. Solochek | Tampa Bay Times
Florida school districts that planned not to count state end-of-course algebra and geometry exams as 30 percent of students’ grades turned out to be prescient.
Department of Education K-12 Chancellor Herschel Lyons informed districts on Monday that the results won’t be available in time, anyway.
In a memo to superintendents, Lyons wrote that the state will not have completed its independent validity study of the exams before grades are issued. Therefore, this year only the scores won’t count in course grades, despite state law, he wrote.
“School districts should calculate final course grades and make promotion decisions without regard to the 30 percent requirement that typically applies,” Lyons wrote. “The absence of EOC results alone in these courses should not result in a grade of incomplete.”
The 30 percent requirement still applies to biology, civics and U.S. history state tests. Those scores will be released in June.