Editor’s note: This story has been updated. School districts across the state said students had trouble logging in to the state’s new writing exam Monday. And the test is running slowly for many who do manage to sign in. Miami-Dade schools said they’re suspending all online testing for 8th through 10th graders until the state […]
We’ve been answering audience questions about Florida’s new statewide test, the Florida Standards Assessments. A parent asked us on Facebook: “Please find out for us parents of third graders, who face mandatory retention if they fail the new reading assessment this spring, how the state plans to deal with them. Will they return to 3rd […]
A 10th grader born in Haiti struggles to read in his class at Godby High School in Tallahassee. The student is more comfortable with Haitian Creole than English. Teacher Althea Valle has students of various nationalities trying to master the language. “It’s a challenge,” Valle says. “There’s a lot of gesturing, and you know sometimes I […]
Florida schools are making plans for how to add a state-required extra hour of reading instruction, according to two stories out today. In 2012, lawmakers required that the 100 schools with the lowest scores on the FCAT reading test add an extra hour of reading instruction to try and boost those scores. When the Office […]
More Florida elementary and middle schools earned an F rating this year, according to preliminary public school grades released Friday. But the number of schools earning the state’s highest rating also increased this year. “The increase in the number of schools earning an ‘A’ this year is great news for students and teachers who have […]
The Florida Department of Education released the first edition of an annual report compiling Florida college and university graduate earning data last week. Generally, graduates with science degrees were more likely to earn more in their first year of employment after college. But which school’s graduates earned the most money? Check out these charts created […]
Florida high school seniors performed below the national average on a nationwide math exam and nearly matched the national average on a reading exam, according to new National Assessment of Educational Progress results released Wednesday. Just 19 percent of Florida 12th graders were considered “proficient” on the 2013 math exam, according to test results. NAEP […]
UPDATE: Education Commissioner Pam Stewart has sent a letter to Pearson saying she expects “a resolution and explanation for this immediately.” “This failure is inexcusable,” Stewart wrote. “Florida’s students and teachers work too hard on learning to be distracted by these needless and avoidable technological issues.” Read Stewart’s letter below. Original post: Schools are suspending […]
A computer program will grade student essays on the writing portion of the standardized test set to replace the FCAT, according to bid documents released by the Florida Department of Education. The essays will be scored by a human and a computer, but the computer score will only matter if the score is significantly different […]
Miami Jackson Senior High School has lost its appeal to become an A-rated school after disputing test scores , the Miami Herald reports. The Florida Department of Education said the scores from students learning English would not have changed the school’s grade: The state’s ruling was expected, even though Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said […]
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