- April 19, 2024
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They expected to hear the information, but nevertheless, members of the Flagler County School Board couldn’t suppress their smiles as they heard the results of an external review of the district’s schools.
After visiting six schools, formally observing 33 classrooms and interviewing 241 people involved with or invested in the district, officials from AdvancED, a nonprofit school evaluation organization, recommended the Flagler County school district for re-accreditation.
Though not official until the organization’s accreditation commission approves it, the recommendation will grant the district accreditation for anotehfive years. This is a continuance of the accreditation the district earned five years ago.
“I don’t know how y’all do it,” said George Griffin, the chairman of the AdvancED team that assessed the district’s schools, referring to the number of technology, arts programs and other resources available to students during lean economic times. “I would have expected to hear more excuses about why you used to do something and don’t anymore. We didn’t see that. We saw every dollar possible put out to students.”
The report came one day after the School Board decided to ask voters for a 0.5 millage levy to help its struggling budget fund existing program, increase security and lengthen school days in middle and high schools by 45 minutes.
AdvancED, which decides the accreditation of schools internationally, uses a combination of student performance results; perceptions of the district held by students, parents and teachers; and assessments of standards to determine accreditation. A team of AdvancED officials observed schools between Monday and Wednesday before presenting its results Wednesday afternoon.
Along with a shining review came one required action item: that the district expands its strategic plan beyond 2014. Griffin recommended that the district look at least five years out.
Within 45 days, the organization will release a full report of its findings about Flagler schools, but Griffin outlined the highlights in his presentation. Chief among those was the use of technology in education.
“One thing we noticed around here was a willingness to take some risks with some new programs and new services to better meet the needs of the students,” Griffin said.
Assessments are centered on five core principals, and schools are rated on a scale of 1-4. Any score above a two, Griffin said, is “perfectly acceptable,” with scores above that exceeding standards.
In the category of purpose and direction, Flagler scored 2.75; for governance and leadership, 2.83; for resources and support systems, 3; for using results for continuous improvement, 2.6; and for teaching and assessing learning, 2.5.
Those categories were further broken down in Griffin’s presentation, and will be even more so once the final report is available. The lowest scoring category was of the digital learning environment, which earned a 1.7 score. But, Griffin said, that is not unusual. That category was assessed on the amount of students using technology for learning directly.
A score of 1 meant direct student use of technology was not observed in a particular classroom while it was being assessed, not that it never happens. Griffin said that as he was calculating the average for this and other categories, Flagler schools received more scores of 4 for individual classrooms than normal, but that districts always score low in this area.
After Griffin gave both his report and his recommendation for accreditation, the School Board and a large audience gave him a standing ovation.
“I know in our hearts we all believed that this would be result,” said Superintendent Janet Valentine, “but it’s great to see it all in print anyway.”
Learning environment ratings
Equitable learning environment: 2.3
High expectations environment: 2.7
Supportive learning environment: 2.8
Active learning environment: 2.6
Progress monitoring and feedback environment: 2.4
Well-managed learning environment: 2.7
Digital learning environment: 1.7
