Florida education commissioner Pam Stewart’s school grading simulation showed the state would see a similar distribution of A through F marks for 2015 as it saw in 2014.
That simple fact led some observers to question how that could be, given the state’s tests and standards were supposed to be more difficult. Since the numbers were based upon Stewart’s proposeal for test cut scores and revisions to school grading rules, the reason had to come from the details.
Her cut score recommendations hadn’t changed, and they were higher than in the past. So the factor likely lay within the rule.
