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How Schools Are Deciding Whether To Purchase New Common Core Materials

Education Week takes a long look at how schools around  Orlando and in Long Beach, Calif. solved a similar problem: choosing a curriculum for new Common Core math, literacy and language arts standards. Orange County went with big publishing companies. Long Beach schools designed their own curriculum. It’s a decision many school districts are facing […]

Studies Find Textbooks Are A Poor Match For Common Standards

Brevard County schools are considering 30 new middle and high school textbooks for the nationally crafted math and language arts standards known as Common Core, Florida Today reports. The standards are currently used in kindergarten through second grade, and are scheduled to be used in every Florida grade when classes start this fall. Like Brevard […]

Three Questions For Orange County Superintendent On Common Core

When Gov. Rick Scott gave his State of the State speech this week, he made a point of recognizing educators who “help make dreams come true for the next generation.” He singled out Orange County Superintendent Barbara Jenkins, who was in the House Chambers as the governor’s guest. “Barbara, will you please stand so we […]

How Teachers Are Creating New Lessons For Common Core State Standards

Editor’s note: Reporter Martha Dalton with NPR affiliate WABE-FM in Atlanta contributed to this report. “The story was about a gingerbread man getting loose in the school.” Kindergarteners in Katherine Kenton’s class at Tallahassee’s Gilchrist Elementary School are learning to read using the new Common Core standards. The students have to show they understand what […]

Three Questions For An Elementary Principal About Common Core

Florida is in the process of transitioning to common core standards in public schools. The first full year of implementation is scheduled for 2014-15. 45 states and Washington, D.C. have agreed to adopt common core standards. The standards will measure whether students across the country are reaching certain benchmarks in English, Math and Language Arts. […]

Teachers Earn Big Profits Selling Lesson Plans Online

A Georgia Kindergarten teacher has earned more than $1 million selling lesson plans to other teachers through a website, according to Bloomberg Businessweek. Deanna Jump’s story is unusual, but two teachers have earned more than $300,000 and nearly two dozen have earned more than $100,000. Here’s how it works: Since signing on to the site, […]

How Common Core Will Change Classroom Approaches

Raise your hand if you could use a little extra help explaining the new Common Core State Standards Florida schools will implement in 2014? We’ve got our hand up too. Robert Rothman bullet points the ways Common Core will affect classrooms in this month’s Harvard Education Letter. Here’s a few key changes:

Report: U.S., Florida Students Aren’t Challenged In Class

Nearly four in ten Florida 4th graders say their math class work is too easy, according to an analysis of student survey data by the Center for American Progress. The survey also found 30 percent of Florida 8th graders read five or fewer pages in class or for homework each day. And more than two-thirds […]

Science Blogger Finds Problems With FCAT Questions

“The Happy Scientist,” blogger Robert Krampf, notes a number of problems with practice questions for Florida’s 5th and 8th grade FCAT science exams. Among the issues are correct answers that rely on incorrect definitions, and answers test designers consider incorrect but actually are scientifically correct. An example: A glossary of definitions (Appendix C) is provided […]

Better Handwriting Means Better Grades, Researcher Says

Want your child to do better in math or be a stronger reader? Have them write out your weekly shopping list. That’s according to research by Florida International University professor Laura Dinehart. Dinehart studied more than 3,000 four-year-olds in Miami-Dade County. Those who received better grades on fine motor skill tasks, such as writing, also […]

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