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Fla. education board takes up school grade change

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida's State Board of Education is considering making last-minute changes to the formula used to calculate annual school grades.

The panel is scheduled to vote Tuesday on a proposal from Education Commissioner Tony Bennett.

Each year the state hands out A-to-F grades that are used to reward top schools and sanction those that get failing marks.

But Bennett on Friday recommended a "temporary rule" that would limit a school grade from dropping more than one letter at a time.

The commissioner is responding to worries from school superintendents that recent changes to the grading system would create a large drop in the grades that are widely used by parents to evaluate schools.

The grades are based primarily on student performance on a series of high-stakes tests.