JUST THE FACTS Central Florida The Institute for a Competitive Workforce (ICW) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. ICW promotes the rigorous educational standards and effective job training systems needed to preserve the strength of America’s greatest economic resource, its workforce. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business federation representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions, as well as state and local chambers and industry associations. The National Chamber Foundation, a nonprofit affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, is dedicated to identifying and fostering public debate on emerging critical issues. We provide business and government leaders with insight and resources to address tomorrow’s challenges. © Institute for a Competitive Workforce, May 2013 “U.S. CHAMBER” and “U.S. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE” are registered trademarks of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America. © National Chamber Foundation, May 2013 Central Florida 1 Are ALL children receiving a high-quality education in central Florida? Not yet. Florida is a national leader in education reform. It has high standards, strong teacher effectiveness policies, and expansive school choice options. It has made unprecedented gains over the past decade to improve student achievement and close the achievement gap. The state leads the nation in students participating in Advanced Placement (AP) courses, particularly for low-income and minority students.1 Its fourth graders ranked second in the world on an international reading assessment.2 The state’s A–F school grading system provides transparent data about its schools and has served as a model for many other states seeking to emulate Florida’s success. Nevertheless, there is still work to be done to ensure that all students are prepared for college and the workforce. For every 100 Florida students, only 76 will graduate from high school, only 51 will attend college, and only 32 will earn a baccalaureate degree within six years.3 Florida ranks 38th in the nation for graduate students pursuing science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) degrees and 31st for residents with STEM degrees.4 While four of seven central Florida counties exceed the average state graduation rate, their low-income and at-risk students graduate well below the average. Central Florida is home to 50 D and F rated schools, meaning students lack consistent access to high quality schools. Proficiency rates statewide, and those of disadvantaged students, are low, especially in science. In central Florida, most students are not proficient in reading and the vast majority of 8th grade students are not proficient in math.5 Too many teachers are rated as effective under the state’s teacher evaluation system, particularly in low-performing schools. And although parents are empowered with numerous school choice options, Florida does not yet have a parent trigger law that would enable them to initiate a charter school conversion. Florida, including the counties of central Florida, needs to build on the state’s impressive record of achievement gains as it implements even more rigorous standards and assessments of college and career readiness. It cannot afford to lower standards or abandon its commitment to implementing Common Core State Standards in order to raise expectations for students. Central Florida 2 Central Florida Schools at a Glance6 Total Four Year 2012 Accountability Charter Students who receive Enrollment Graduation Rate Grade Schools free or reduced lunch Brevard 45,171 85% A 7 44% Lake 23,611 78% B 10 56% Orange 55,820 74% B 31 54% Osceola 15,208 78% B 12 63% Polk 43,754 68% C 28 68% Seminole 35,744 80% A 3 45% Volusia 37,310 67% C 8 57.5% State 2,691,322 74.5% n/a 574 58% How are Florida schools failing Not enough students graduate from the business community? high school prepared for college or the workforce. Florida needs more educated workers to fill high-skill jobs. • Seventy five percent of all students statewide and 65% of low-income students graduate from high • Sixty-three percent of jobs in Florida will school in four years.14 require a career certificate or degree by 2020, • In central Florida counties, low-income student but only 35% of adults in the state currently graduation rates range from 67% to 55%. At-risk have these qualifications.7 student graduation rates are below 50% in all but • Only 25% of the central Florida population over 25 two counties.15 has a Bachelor’s degree or higher.8 • Statewide, more than 100 high schools are • By 2018, the number of STEM jobs in Florida will considered “dropout factories” because graduation increase by 19%. Forty-nine percent of those jobs rates were 60% or below from 2008 to 2010.16 will be computer occupations.9 • Statewide, only 18% of the class of 2012 achieved • In central Florida counties, the percent of a score on the ACT that indicated they are ready residents aged 25–44 holding at least a Bachelor’s for college-level courses, compared to a national degree in a STEM field ranges from 33% to 48%.10 average of 25%.17 • Of students who enroll in two- or four-year public • Fifty-four percent of Florida students attending colleges or universities statewide, only 14% two-year colleges need remediation.18 graduate on time.11 • If Florida’s high schools prepared students for • On average, a high school graduate in Florida college, the state could save as much as $224 million earns $7,115 more each year than a high school in college remediation costs and lost earnings.19 dropout. In 2011, approximately 83,500 students did not graduate from high school, equaling lost lifetime earnings of $9.5 billion.12 • If half of the dropouts had managed to graduate, the additional spending and investments by these graduates would be enough to support as many as 4,000 new jobs and increase the gross state product by as much as $597 million by the time they reach their career midpoints.13 Central Florida 3 Central Florida High School Graduation Florida 2011 NAEP and FCAT Scores Rates, Class of 2012 Percentage of Students Who are Not Proficient Four-Year Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate (a score of 1, 2, or 3 on FCAT) 100 90 85 All Students 80 Low-Income 90 80 78 78 At Risk 74 72 74 73 73 80 70 68 67 67 65 70%72%70% 73% 70 68% NAEP Reading 58 59 65%63% 65% NAEP Math 60 55 53 53 60 FCAT Reading 50 47 FCAT Math 43 42 50 40 40 30 30 20 20 10 10 0 0 e Grade 4 Grade 8 ard Polk Lake olusia Brev Orange Osceola V Seminol Source: NAEP, http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/states/ and Florida Department of Education, http://fcat.fldoe.org/mediapacket/2012/default.asp. Source: Florida Department of Education: http://www.fldoe.org/eias/eiaspubs/xls/ FedGradRateCategory_1112.xls Central Florida 4th Grade FCAT Reading Not enough students attend high- Scores: Achievement Gaps quality schools and meet standards for Percentage of Students Who are Not Proficient (a score of 1, 2, or 3 on FCAT) by Receipt of proficiency in reading and math. Free or Reduced Lunch (FRL) 90 • The National Assessment of Educational Progress 4th Grade-Not FRL (NAEP) and the Florida Comprehensive Assessment 78 4th Grade-FRL 80 76 75 75 76 Test (FCAT) show that most students are not 73 70 69 attaining proficiency in reading, math, or science. • Florida faces significant socioeconomic achievement 60 gaps. On the NAEP assessment, 76% of low-income 51 51 52 50 49 fourth-grade students are not proficient in reading, 44 44 39 and 84% of low-income eighth-grade students are 40 not proficient in math. Seventy-two percent of eighth 30 graders lack proficiency in science, and only 12% of students demonstrated a mastery (score of 4 or 5) of 20 Florida science standards. 20 10 • In central Florida, the 4th grade reading 0 proficiency achievement gap ranges from 24 to e ard 21 Polk 31 percentile points. Lake olusia Brev Orange Osceola V • There are 50 schools with a D or F grade in the Seminol seven central Florida counties—just under 20% of Source: FLDOE, https://app1.fldoe.org/FCATDemographics/Selections.aspx?report all of the D and F schools in the state.22 TypeID=6&level=District&subj=Reading. Central Florida 4 What is Florida doing to 3 College and Career Readiness. One of the improve schools and prepare three student achievement goals for Florida’s Race to the Top grant is to significantly improve students to meet college- and student performance specific to college readiness career-ready standards? and success by doubling the percentage of incoming high school freshmen who graduate Implementing state standards and from high school, go to college, and achieve at assessments aligned to college- and least a year’s worth of college credit. The state career-ready standards. awards incentives for schools and teachers based on the number of students who take Florida adopted the Common Core State Standards college-level exams and score at certain levels. (CCSS) in English language arts and math in July 3 College and Career Ready Graduation 2010.23 The state is on track to implement these Requirements. Florida high school students standards and aligned assessments by the 2014–15 have multiple options for earning a standard school year.24 In central Florida, all counties but one diploma. Students can choose a traditional have a CCSS implementation plan rated as “green”— four-year, 24-credit program; a three-year, “ready with evidence to support.” However, most 18-credit college or career preparatory counties lag on other indicators, and only one county program; an Advanced International Certificate meets the state targets for the student-to-computer of Education Program; or an International ratio, an important measure of whether schools will Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program.