April 9, 2021 — Today, the Florida Department of Education released Emergency Order 2021-EO-02. It provides schools with flexibility regarding the release of school grades, graduation and promotion requirements, use of VAM, and more.
No school grade will be published for the 20-21 school year unless a school chooses to opt-in. “This is not a retreat from assessments,” says Chancellor Oliva during a webcast with superintendents and key charter school folks. “A school will have 30 days after it receives a school grade to decide whether to opt-in” and have the grade shared. Learning grains will be available on the FDOE website regardless of a school’s opt-in decision.
The order also:
- authorizes schools to waive the mandatory state assessment for graduating seniors
- extends deadlines for seniors to earn qualifying test scores for tests like the ACT, SAT, and PERT to Dec. 1,
- forgives volunteer hour requirements for students, who, through no fault of their own had a lack of access to volunteer opportunities
- allows a school principal to make the decision about student retention after reviewing the student’s academic record, gathering input from the parents, the student, their teachers, and school leaders
- allows the determination of a third grader’s promotion to fourth grade based on final course grades and the student’s performance
- allows districts/charter schools to base middle school learning gains and acceleration for school grades on 2 school years — rather than one, due to the cancellation of Spring 2020 assessments
- maintains a school’s “improvement ratings” as per their pre-pandemic designation
In addition, FDOE submitted a request to the U.S. Department of Education for a waiver from reporting the state’s accountability results. States were permitted to request waivers of certain provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
“Similar to last year, this Emergency Order protects our high school seniors and empowers local school districts and schools to make the important decisions on graduation, promotion, and whether to opt-in to school grades and improvement ratings,” said Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran in a statement.
“Florida students, families, and teachers are fortunate to have Governor DeSantis and Education Commissioner Corcoran on their side. While most states are still struggling to get students back to school, our leaders have continually provided guidance, flexibility, and compassion as schools work to maintain high learning expectations while meeting the needs of a variety of learners,” Lynn Norman-Teck, FCSA executive director and charter school parent of two.
For more details about 2021-EO-02, see the links below: