Achievement Inequities in Florida's Public Schools: A Summary of Assessment and Enrollment Data Analyses

• In Event: 54.051 - Education on Trial: Challenging the Constitutionality of Florida's Public Education System

Abstract

Purpose
This study provides a historical summary of state and national assessment results for Florida students, as well as the results of analyses of Florida public school enrollment data with a particular focus on racial disparities. The findings were prepared for the Citizens for Strong Schools, et al v. FL State Board of Education court case, which challenged whether the state was meeting its constitutionally required duty for a uniform, efficient, safe, secure, and high quality system of free public schools.

Perspective
Although policies and social practices that once acted as barriers to educational equity have changed, studies such as this, serve to show that inequity persists in the form of achievement gaps and disparities in retention and graduation rates. Such indicators are some of the best measures of the quality of an education system (Haney, 2008). Previous research shows that there are numerous negative impacts associated with grade retention and failing to graduate (Haney, 2000; Edley & Wald, 2002).

Methods
Descriptive analyses were used to summarize state assessment results and Florida student performance on national assessments including the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and the SAT. Effect sizes were used to compare, on a common metric, changes in performance over time between assessments. Researchers calculated the grade 8-to-graudation rate and the averaged freshman graduation rate (AFGR). Using the AFGR, researchers examined the disproportionality of the graduation rates between minority and White students using the “80% rule”, which concerns whether the rate of the minority group is less than 80% of the majority group. Enrollment data were used to calculate grade transition ratios and to examine retention by grade.

Data Sources
These analyses relied on publicly available data sources including the Common Core of Data’s public school enrollment data, the National Center for Education Statistics’ NAEP reports, the College Board’s SAT reports, and the Florida Department of Education’s state assessment results.

Results/Conclusions
Slight improvements were made on the state test over the last decade, but achievement generally declined with the implementation of the new assessment in 2011. Persistent gaps between minority and White students increased in recent years, and a large percentage of Black students failed to meet the achievement requirements to graduate. Students in Florida generally underperform their national counterparts on both NAEP and the SAT. Effect size analyses showed small to moderate improvements on the state assessment, yet the national assessment effect sizes did not confirm those improvements. Graduation rates improved from 61% in 1999 to 71% in 2010, yet disparities by race are large and persistent, with roughly half of Black students graduating. Grade transition ratios show consistently high numbers of students retained in grades 3 and 9 compared to other state and national rates.

Significance
The findings indicate that the state of Florida has not fulfilled its duty to provide a high quality education system that allows all students to obtain a high quality education. The promise of equal educational opportunity in Florida has yet to be realized.

Author

• Jessica Bailey, Education Development Center, Inc.