South Florida’s school grades are bouncing back from ‘COVID slide’

South Florida Sun-Sentinel | By Scott Travis | July 7, 2022

South Florida academic achievement is starting to rebound from the pandemic, school and district grades released Thursday show.

The Broward School District overall received a B in the first grades issued since 2019. That’s the same grade it has received for more than a decade. Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties received A’s, the same as before the pandemic.

The grades are based mostly on how students perform on the Florida Standards Assessment. This is the last year the once-a-year assessment will be used, as the state is switching to a new way of grading schools that measures performance at multiple times during the year.

Broward schools, including district-run and charter schools, received 104 A’s, 70 B’s, 86 C’s, nine D’s and three F’s. That’s similar to its performance in 2019.

Palm Beach County schools received 71 A’s, 40 B’s, 68 C’s, nine D’s and one F, slightly worse than in 2019 when the district had 89 A’s and no F’s.

Miami-Dade County schools received 225 A’s, 96 B’s, 93 C’s, one D and one F, slightly better than in 2019 when the district had 200 A’s, five D’s and no F’s.

The state gave no grades in 2020 or 2021 due to COVID-19.

State assessments were canceled in 2020.

They were given in 2021, but no grades were issued. However, test results last year showed schools failed miserably in student achievement due to a phenomenon known as the “COVID slide,” where students learning at home and on computers performed poorly. This year, students were required to return to school campuses.

Had the state released grades this year, almost half of Broward County schools and a third of Palm Beach County schools would have received D’s or F’s, according to state data released by the two school districts. The South Florida Sun Sentinel did not receive data from Miami-Dade.