“Who are these bonuses for?” It’s a question we heard from teachers over and over again while reporting on the new Best and Brightest Scholarships. They’re not actually scholarships — they’re bonuses worth up to $10,000 for teachers who scored in the top 20 percent of students when they took the SAT or ACT and […]
In Brigette Kinney’s design class at Ada Merritt K-8 center in Miami, one of the key concepts is editing and revising ideas after getting feedback. Her 8th graders created role-playing games based on books they read. And then adjust the games, after watching their classmates play. Kinney hopes Florida lawmakers will be as open to […]
Miami teacher Brigette Kinney said she doesn’t always hear about school news when classes are out for the summer. So Kinney missed the word that lawmakers set aside $44 million for bonuses based on SAT and ACT scores during a special summer budget session. Teachers who scored in the top 20 percent the year they […]
Gov. Rick Scott visited a Miami elementary school Monday to ask lawmakers to meet his request for school funding. Lawmakers return to Tallahassee today to finish the budget. The big disagreement is how to pay for health care. And that could affect how much money is left for education. Scott opposes expanding the state-run Medicaid […]
Florida lawmakers’ decision to end mandatory final exams for every class will mean that more teachers’ performance will be judged on subjects they don’t teach. Concerned about the amount of testing in schools — and pressured by activists and educators — this year lawmakers rescinded a state law that requires school districts to have a […]
The chairman of the Senate Education committee says lawmakers aren’t interested in cancelling the six-year, $220 million contract with Florida new statewide test provider despite multiple problems with the new exams already. Twice this year contractor American Institutes for Research made changes to their system which prevented students and administrators from accessing the exam. Some […]
The Miami-Dade School District is taking advantage of a new state law and eliminating more than 300 final tests — also known as end-of-course exams. The law rescinds a requirement that districts give students a final exam in all subjects that don’t already have a required state exam. “Today’s announcement should come as welcomed news […]
Testing experts say the problems Florida’s has had with its new statewide exam so far are likely not serious enough for the state to consider throwing out this year’s test scores on the Florida Standards Assessments. Earlier this month a software problem meant students had trouble logging onto the writing exam for several days, and […]
Yesterday, a Senate committee appeared to suspend for one year Florida’s requirement that the lowest-performing 3rd graders be held back while the state validates results from its new test. But Senate Education committee chairman John Legg says it’s not that simple. What the committee actually did, Legg says, is put the responsibility on school districts […]
Editor’s note: Check out the update to this story here. Nearly one in five Florida 3rd graders were at risk of being held back because of low scores on the state reading test last year. But this year the state might not hold back any 3rd graders. That’s because a Senate committee voted to suspend […]
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