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 Polk Count School District's Data:

2005, 2006 and 2007 data is now available at the Florida Department of Education website:

http://www.fldoe.org/ese/datapage.asp

Scroll to "LEA Profiles" table and click on 06 under Polk.

Or, you can Click Here for the Polk's 2007 LEA Profile as a pdf file.

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As reported in the 2007 LEA Profile:

For 2004-2005 School Year, Polk's  No Child Left Behind Graduation  Rate is 26%, the State average is 37%   (30% below the State average).

Same as the 2003-2004 School Year.

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For 2004-2005 School Year, Polk's Standard Diploma though Meeting All Graduation Requirements Rate is 20%, the State average is 41% (51% below the State average).

For 2005-2006 School Year, Polk's Standard Diploma though Meeting All Graduation Requirements Rate is 22%, the State average is 38% (42% below the State average).

Good News!  Well, kind of... the state average went down 3 points, which is bad, but Polk went up 2 points, which is good, but the nation is at 54%, the state is at 38%, and Polk is up from 20 to 22%. 

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For 2005-2006 School Year, Polk's Percentage of Students with Disabilities in a Separate Class is 31%, the State average is 22%. (Polk has 41% more Students with Disabilities in Separate Classes than the State average).

For 2006-2007 School Year, Polk's Percentage of Students with Disabilities in a Separate Class is 25%, the State average is 22%. (Polk has 12% more (was 41% more) Students with Disabilities in Separate Classes than the State average).

Good News! This represents a real change.  Maybe some of the data presented to the school board earlier had an impact, maybe the new school superintendent played a part, maybe both.

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Below is some of the earlier data reporting that I believe had a direct impact in the decisions the District took with regards to my son Drew.

2004 Information

In September, 2004, I received the 2004 LEA Profile for Polk County, a document that is produced by the Department of Education. 

Click here to get a copy of the 2004 LEA Profile for Polk County. 

When ranked with the other 66 counties in Florida, Polk comes in dead last in terms of number of students impacted.  See the Comparative Spread Sheet below.

Click here to get an Microsoft Excel Comparative Spread Sheet Listing all of the 67 Counties in the State of Florida. 

See how your county's LEA Profile compares with others around the state.   County by county rankings for many of the important measures (New 11-02-04).

Below is more of the 2004 data reporting that I believe had a direct impact in the decisions the District took with regards to my son Drew. 

 

Polk's LEA Profile shows:

 

  • 57% fewer standard diplomas for ESE students in Polk County than the statewide average for ESE students ( for diplomas not thru the GED option or requiring the FCAT waiver). 
     
  • It reports on page 3 that 19% of Polk ESE students receive standard diplomas in the 2002-2003 school year.  It reports that statewide, 45% of the ESE students receive standard diplomas.  This means that 57% fewer Polk ESE students received standard diplomas in the 2002-2003 school year than the statewide average. 
    l And the trend is not good.  In the previous school year, only 48% fewer standard diplomas were obtained, and only 45% fewer standard diplomas were obtained for the 2000-2001 school year.
     
  • When looking at all standard diplomas delivered, Polk delivers 40% fewer diplomas than the statewide average. 
     
  • Out of Florida's 67 counties, Polk's rank on this measure is 65.  Polk (with an 84,066 student population) competes with Hendry at 45% fewer diplomas (with a 7,658 student population) and Glades County with sadly 100% fewer diplomas (with a 1,012 student population).
     
  • Polk County Has a 50% Higher Dropout Rate for ESE Students as ESE Students Statewide.
     
  • On page 4, Polk's ESE Dropout Rate is 6%, the Statewide rate is 4%.  It would appear that Polk's ESE Dropout Rate is 50% higher than that of the State.
     
  • Polk County Has 12% fewer ESE Students in the Regular Classroom.
     
  • On page 5, Polk has 12% fewer ESE students in the regular classroom for the 2003-2004 school year.  There is good news, however.  This is an improvement over the previous two years, with the number being 12.5% fewer in 2002-2003, and 18.75% in 2001-2002.
     
  • Discipline Rates: 
     
  • Polk chooses to give ESE students 38% more In-School Suspensions than the statewide rate (page 6).
     
  • Polk chooses to give ESE students 64% more Out-of-School Suspensions than the statewide rate (page 6).
     
  • Speech Impaired:
     
  • Statewide, 14% of the total disabled population is identified as Speech Impaired (SI) as compared with 8% in Polk County.  These numbers are saying that Polk may have 75% more Speech Impaired students  than it has identified (page 8).

 

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This information has been posted by Bill Sammons, a parent of an ESE student in the Polk County School District in Florida.
 

Contact: sammons@tampabay.rr.com

Phone: (863) 688-3323