School Grades as defined in Section 1008.34, F.S. are based upon combinations of factors, including annual learning gains as measured by the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) in reading and mathematics for the third through the tenth grades. In order to accurately determine a school’s annual learning gains, the scoring of the FCAT tests must be accurately equated from one year to the next for each grade and each type of test. However, analyses by the Department of Education, external test experts, and vendors under contract with the Department reveal that the third grade reading portion of the FCAT for the 2006 year was not correctly equated. As a result, the test results for 2006 third grade reading were, in this case, significantly inflated. The anomaly in the 2006 third grade reading scores was not discovered until after an analysis of the 2007 scores was completed. This information was not available until May 21, 2007. Further, it was not until May 31, 2007, that it was learned that the anomaly could not be corrected by means of rescoring using a valid statistical approach. It is critical that school grades be released as soon as possible after the close of one school year to allow school districts time to prepare for the next school year. The release of these scores has been in early June since 2002. Because of the anomaly, the 2006 third grade FCAT results cannot be used in the calculation of the 2007 school grades as provided for in Rule 6A-1.09981, F.A.C. Specifically, the portion of a school’s performance grade based upon annual learning gains, as well as that portion of a school’s performance grade based upon the lowest twenty-five percent, must exclude the 2006 third grade reading scores for Florida’s public elementary schools. Given the timing of the discovery and the need to release school grades, there is not sufficient time to amend the rule by the non-emergency rulemaking procedures. Moreover, since Florida school districts must prepare for 2007-2008 between July 1, and August 21, (when the 2007-08 school year starts), school grades must be released well in advance. Preparations to be taken by school districts as a result of school grades include: contracting for services to poor performing schools; closing repeat, poor performing schools; shifting staff, students, and faculty; allocating special service resources from state and federal funds; and in some cases, reallocating dollars appropriated through the Florida Education Finance Program. The assessment of student, school, school district performance and Florida’s pubic school system is heavily dependant upon accurate student achievement data from the FCAT. An inaccurate school grade can deprive a school of performance-based funding under Section 1008.36. Further, the anomaly impairs the ability to identify schools which have not performed well and which have not made sufficient progress in assisting their students achieve proficiency. This ability is, in part, dependant upon the targeting of limited resources to those schools who truly need additional services as evidenced by their school grade. School grades are also one component of Florida’s plan approved by the United States Department of Education under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Schools with low school grades will not meet the progress makers established through the NCLB Act, which will impact available federal funding. As a consequence of this, students in need of services, such as tutoring and additional assistance, will not receive such services. Students in low performing schools are overwhelmingly children from low income families (as evidenced by their receipt of Free and Reduced Lunch assistance from the federal government). They are also schools largely comprised of minority children, children with disabilities and students with limited English speaking backgrounds. A major focus of the NCLB program and the A+ program is to close educational performance gaps for these children. Without this emergency rule change, the ability of the state and school districts to assist these children in closing educational performance gaps will be seriously hampered.