EXPLANATION OF FLORIDA REPORT CARD

Every school in Florida has a "report card" posted on the Florida Department of Education website, allowing parents, students and other members of the community to see how well the school is doing reaching performance targets.

When viewing an individual school's report card, you will see two grades: one from the state and the other from the federal government using its standards under the 'No Child Left Behind' Act. Both grades can be found at the top of the school's report card.

The school grade (either A, B, C, D or F) is the grade the school received from the state. The federal 'No Child Left Behind' Act also requires that schools show 'adequate yearly progress' (AYP); schools are graded as to whether they make or fail to make AYP.

To achieve AYP, not only does the school have to reach a certain level of student performance overall, but students within each subgroup must reach the same level as well.

In Florida, students are divided into subgroups: White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, American Indian, Economically Disadvantaged, Limited English Proficient and Students with Disabilities.

Additionally, 95 percent of all students (and subgroups) must participate in the test in order to meet AYP requirements. If even one of the subgroups does not reach the proficiency target or not enough students of one subgroup are tested, the entire school is deemed as failing to meet federal standards.

The report card shows each subgroup and how they performed compared to the set targets.