EFFECTIVENESS LEVELS

Multiple factors have been used to place student and staff populations in an appropriate national comparison group and then to calculate the effectiveness level for the Marion County School District and for individual schools within the district. One important socio-economic factor used in the calculation is the percent of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch (F/R lunch).

The SchoolMatch audit team used free/reduced lunch data reported by the Marion County School District for elementary schools in these calculations and presents that data here, as one example. Based on the feeder school chart showing progression of students from elementary to middle to high school, free/reduced lunch percentages reported by elementary schools were used to estimate free/reduced lunch percentages for the eight middle and six high school populations. The percentages of elementary students who apply and qualify for F/R lunch more nearly approximate welfare and poverty-level indicators in Marion County than do the percentages reflecting middle and high school student self-reported information.

Elementary free and reduced lunch percentages 1997-98 school year School Total students Students on free/reduced lunch Free/reduced lunch percentage Anthony 332 209 63% Belleview 609 390 64% Belleview-Santos 827 529 64% College Park 836 694 83% Dunnellon 669 448 67% East Marion 821 575 70% Eighth Street 367 132 36% Emerald Shores 675 527 78% Evergreen 821 583 71% Fessenden 564 457 81% Fort McCoy, K-5 668 408 62% Greenway 587 376 64% Harbour View 877 596 68% Dr. N.H. Jones 490 35 48% Madison Street 454 159 35% Maplewood 589 236 40% Oakcrest 648 531 82% Ocala Springs 735 404 55% Reddick-Collier 599 491 82% Romeo 722 455 63% Shady Hill 752 203 27% South Ocala 672 303 45% Sparr 477 329 69% Stanton-Weirsdale 549 401 73% Sunrise 945 624 66% Ward-Highlands 834 341 42% Wyomina Park 598 472 79% TOTALS 17,695 11,108 62.77%

Middle schools free/reduced lunch percentages (Estimated) School School free/reduced lunch % School reported % Belleview 51.28% 47% Dunnellon 65.37% 63% Fort King 61.95% 41% Fort McCoy 66.02% 67% Howard 72.76% 60% Lake Weir 70.68% 67% North Marion 75.35% 67% Osceola 41.22% 32% High schools free/reduced lunch percentages (Estimated) School School free/reduced lunch % School reported % Belleview 51.28% 28% Dunnellon 65.37% 29% Forest 41.22% 27% Lake Weir 70.68% 50% North Marion 71.34% 43% Vanguard 67.49% 30%

High Schools	Middle Schools		Elementary Schools
	All Students	Few Students*	All Students	Few Students*
Vanguard	Howard		College Park, Evergreen, Oakcrest, Ocala Springs	Eighth Street, Fessenden, South Ocala, Ward-Highlands, Wyomina Park
		Fort McCoy	East Marion, Fort McCoy
	Fort King		Ward-Highlands, Wyomina Park	East Marion, Oakcrest, Ocala Springs
Dunnellon	Dunnellon		Dunnellon, Romeo, Sunrise
Forest	Osceola	Fort King, Howard	Eigth Street, Maplewood, South Ocala	College Park, Greenway, Shady Hill
Lake Wier	Lake Wier		Emerald Shores, Harbor View, Greenway, Stanton-Wiersdale	Belleview, East Marion, Maplewood
North Marion	Fort McCoy		East Marion, Fort McCoy
	North Marion		Anthony, Fessenden, Reddick-Collier, Sparr	Evergreen, Ocala Springs
Belleview	Belleview	Osceola	Belleview, Belleview-Santos, Shady Hill	College Park, Emerald Shores, Greenway, Harbor View, Sunrise

* Few Students: The majority of students in these schools attends another school. Only a very few students follow the indicated elementary/middle/high school progression.

In the course of conducting the Audit of Educational Effectiveness nationwide, we have observed that Free and Reduced Price Lunch Percentages are notoriously under-reported at the middle school and high school levels. This condition also appears to exist in the Marion County School District.

Categories of effectiveness for the Marion County school district

	Standard	Average	District range
Reading	65th percentile	48th percentile	44th-71st percentile
Math	65th percentile	48th percentile	32nd-81st percentile

Criterion-Referenced Tests

	Standard	Average	District
Communications	94 percent	90 percent	80 percent
Math	94 percent	90 percent	75 percent

Percent of juniors and seniors

	Standard	Average	District
Taking AP courses	12 percent	10 percent	6.55 percent
Taking AP exams	3.7 percent	3.2 percent	6.54 percent

Percent of tested earning 3, 4, or 5 on AP examinations

Standard	Average	District
70 percent	60 percent	47.31 percent

Other indexes

	Standard	Average	District
ACT	20.4	18.4	20.8
SAT	986	950	1012
Drop-out rate, grades 9-12	10.4 percent	11.6 percent	17.52 percent
Senior class GPA	2.2	2.4	2.7762
Student attendance	95 percent	92 percent	92.4 percent
Teacher absence index	5.0 days	7.0 days	5.66 days

Elementary schools, grades 1-5
1997-98 California Achievement Test/5
(scores in national percentiles)

Grade	Reading	Math
1	51st	50th
2	49th	56th
3	54th	57th
4	53rd	57th
5	49th	55th
District 1-5 average	51st	55th

Middle schools, grades 6-8
1997-98 Terra Nova, (scores in national percentiles)

Grade	Reading	Math
6	48th	50th
7	50th	48th
8	51st	49th
District 6-8 average	49th	49th

High School Competency Test 1997-98 grade 11

	Percent passing
Communications	80 percent
Math	75 percent

Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test
1997-98 district average scores

Grade	Reading	Math
4	295	298
8	296	295
10	298	299

Marion County school district results
1997-98 school year