2012 was a busy year in Florida education. One state education commissioner left, while another will take the reins early next year. And Florida got great news on an international comparison. Here are the biggest education stories of 2012, with links to StateImpact Florida coverage. International test results — The biggest education story of the [...]
A shooter entered a Connecticut school and opened fire Friday. While details are still emerging, it’s worth looking at what Florida schools must do to prepare for an on-campus emergency. The Florida Department of Education has a statewide policy outlining how school’s should prepare and respond to an on-campus emergency. The policy was approved in [...]
The State Board of Education is expected to choose Florida’s new Commissioner of Education this week. The three finalists will be interviewed this afternoon in Tampa. They were chosen from an applicant pool of more than sixty. Interim Commissioner Pam Stewart did not apply. She also serves as Florida’s Chancellor of Public Schools. Stewart took [...]
Wednesday the Florida Department of Education unveiled statewide teacher evaluation data, part of a new law that overhauls how teacher performance is measured in Florida. The agency held a press conference by phone to discuss the accomplishment. And then the data quietly disappeared that afternoon. The agency later admitted that Hillsborough County school officials had [...]
A University of Central Florida business professor and the Florida Department of Education have been swapping research the past week in a debate about whether charter schools perform better than district schools. UCF professor Stanley Smith opened the debate with his analysis of student achievement at traditional and charter schools. His general assessment is that [...]
Here’s more fuel for the fire in the charter school debate. Student achievement data compiled by the Florida Department of Education suggests charter students are performing better than their peers in traditional schools. That goes against research by Dr. Stanley Smith, a University of Central Florida business professor. He found that charters perform worse than [...]
Charter school supporters are wrapping up their annual conference today in Orlando. More than 750 participants and 300 exhibitors registered for the two-day event. They’re hearing about charter school best practices and teaching strategies that use technology to improve learning. Over 80 breakout sessions are on the agenda, with titles like “Charter Support Unit: Here [...]
The Florida Department of Education is asking for a boost in funding for the 2013-2014 budget. The request amounts to an additional $668.6 million. Amy Hammock, education budget chief, said the state’s current education budget totals $20.3 billion, taking up 29 percent of the total state budget. That’s second only to spending on health and [...]
A state task force is considering a proposal which would require local school districts to give money to charter schools for facilities. Construction, maintenance and other capital expenses has been a growing concern for Florida schools as the state funding for those programs has decreased. A Florida Department of Education task force will meet this [...]
Editor’s note: This story has been updated from the version originally published. Seminole County teacher Amy Capelle had to make a decision. Her supervisor at the nation’s largest online school, K12, asked her to sign a roster saying she’d taught 112 kids. She’d only taught seven. “If you see your name next to a student [...]
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