UPDATE: Matthew Ladner, director of policy research for the Foundation for Excellence in Education, responds. The takeaway: “There are very clear signs of aggregate level improvement in Florida, and also a large number of studies at the individual level showing positive results from individual policies.” At the Shanker Blog researcher Matthew Di Carlo reviews the [...]
The finance professor who found Florida charter schools are not on a par with traditional schools is back with more research. Dr. Stanley Smith with the University of Central Florida analyzed the high school grades that were released last month. Like last time, he looked at the effect of poverty and minority status on a [...]
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 [...]
While charter schools are an increasingly popular option for Florida students, a University of Central Florida researcher says they don’t perform as well as district schools. Dr. Stanley Smith, a professor at the University of Central Florida’s business school, analyzed school grades of Florida elementary schools last summer, examining the effect of poverty and minority [...]
StateImpact Florida hit the road for Orlando this week, and so we packed a few podcasts for the trip. We highly recommend a fascinating piece by This American Life that takes a look at the growing body of research about “non-cognitive skills,” such as resilience, tenacity and self-control. Research shows that the stress from living [...]
Tuition hikes at Florida universities have not made up for state budget cuts since 2007, according to an analysis by the Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy. That’s because budget cuts mean the state is spending roughly the same amount on higher education now as it did in 2002 — and that’s before the [...]
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 [...]
Teachers, did you know you are overpaid by 52%? That’s the conclusion of a new study by conservative-leaning think tanks The Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute. Taxpayers, they conclude, are “overcharged” $120 billion each year from the difference in teacher salaries and compensation compared to similarly credentialed private sector workers. Teacher benefits are [...]
We told you this morning that Gov. Rick Scott had sent a letter to state universities asking a series of questions in an effort to gauge their performance. The letter is part of Scott’s larger push to reevaluate the way state universities operate. Here’s a copy of the letter he sent to the University of [...]
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