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State to rate schools from best to worst

The Florida Department of Education is following up on its controversial ranking of school districts. This time, the state agency will take it a step further, by releasing a comprehensive list of individual schools, rated best-to-worst according to how well students perform on the state’s standardized test. Lynn Hatter reports.

When the Department of Education released its ranking of school districts, Commissioner Gerard Robinson called it the first step in a two-step process.

Now the state is preparing to take that next step by looking at individual schools. DOE is expected to release a list of more than three-thousand public schools across the state next week, assigning them a number—from first, to last.

The district rankings caused an uproar from public school advocates who said using FCAT scores alone is not a fair way to evaluate schools.  Robinson and Governor Rick Scott describe the list as a way for taxpayers to see their investment in education at work. 

The individual school list could be out as early as Monday.

Follow @HatterLynn

Lynn Hatter is a Florida A&M University and Florida State University graduate with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master's in Professional Communication. Lynn has been with WFSU since 2007 with education and health care issues as her key coverage areas.  She has worked with several organizations, including Kaiser Health News.  Lynn has also partnered with USC-Annenberg's Center for Child Wellbeing on the nationally acclaimed series "Committed," which explored the prevalence of involuntary commitment use on children.
She serves on the board of RTDNA and the United Way of the Big Bend, with previous service on the board of the First Amendment Foundation of Florida.

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