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Number Of Top-Rated High Schools Falls In Florida

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MIAMI(CBSMiami) --  Grades are in for Florida's high school graduation rates and preliminary grades for the schools.

Numbers, released by the Florida Department of Education, showed the number of A-graded schools dropped from 49 percent last year to 36 percent this year.

The number of schools given a B did edge up slightly from 33 percent to 35 percent.

Education Commissioner Pam Stewart said a key reason for the drop in A-rated schools was that the grading formula was changed to make it harder to earn a top grade.

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In Miami-Dade County, public high schools outperformed the state on school performance grades, despite increased accountability measures.

After the release of the grades, Miami-Dade Public Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho tweeted about the county's results saying, "For the fourth year in a row, no @MDCPS traditional school has received an F grade. #brilliancerising." 

High schools in Miami-Dade scored better School Performance Grades at a higher rate than the state average, despite changes in the grading scale and the added components in the grading formula.

He later tweeted saying, "As a whole, we outperformed the state's grad rate...When you break it down: African Americans led by 4%, Whites by 6% & Hispanics by 3%." 

Miami-Dade also beat the state's average graduation rate, with 76.6 percent of students graduating, above the state average of 76.1 percent.

Elementary and middle school grades were announced last summer.

The department tried to downplay the drop in the number of A-rated schools in its official release. Instead the department highlighted that the state's overall high school graduation rate edged up slightly this year.

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