This Information Capsule answers the most frequently asked questions about M-DCPS' academic performance during the 2011-2012 school year. Over the past year, the Florida Department of Education made over 28 changes to the school grading formula, including the transition to new, more rigorous assessments, new accountability components, and inclusion of students with disabilities and English language learners in all parts of the school grade calculations. In spite of these major changes, M-DCPS posted stronger than expected School Performance Grades, with almost half of the District's schools earning an "A" and only 2% of schools receiving an "F." Overall, M-DCPS earned a District Performance Grade of "B." More rigorous scoring criteria used for the 2012 FCAT Writing led to decreases in the percentages of M-DCPS students passing the exam at all three grade levels tested. On the FCAT 2.0 Reading and FCAT 2.0 Science, results were mixed for M-DCPS students with performance gains noted at some grade levels but not at others. On the FCAT 2.0 Mathematics, the percentages of M-DCPS students scoring at the higher achievement levels increased at all of the six grade levels tested. The percentages of M-DCPS students receiving passing scores on the Algebra 1 End-of-Course (EOC) Assessment increased at four of six grade levels. The District's middle grades students performed remarkably well, with 89-90% achieving scores required to earn high school credit. The District made some progress reducing the achievement gap on the FCAT 2.0 Reading, Mathematics, and Science, with improvements at some grade levels noted. On the FCAT Writing, however, the more stringent criteria used to score the exam led to a widening of the achievement gap at all three grade levels tested. On the Algebra 1 EOC Assessment, the gap between White students and both Black and Hispanic students decreased across all grade levels tested. (Contains 7 figures and 5 tables.) [For the 2010-11 edition, see ED536517.]