The State Board of Education has asked that a panel of school superintendents and other education officials to review the state’s school grading system and potentially recommend changes. Superintendents from Hillsborough and Miami-Dade schools said that they are concerned changes to the school grading system will mean a dramatic drop in school grades. The board [...]
A week ago Thursday — the end of the year for students — brought with it the usual catharsis of the last day. There were hugs and tears as well as exchanges of notes and cards, gifts and promises, and words of wisdom and encouragement. I shared summer reading recommendations with students who reciprocated with [...]
The Florida Education Association’s lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state’s test-based teacher evaluations — if successful — could become a model for teacher’s union across the country, Governing magazine reports. And over at the Quick and the Ed, labor attorney Danny Rosenthal argues the FEA normally would have a difficult time proving the government [...]
By now, most Florida parents have heard the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test is on its way out. But they might not know a whole lot about what’s replacing the FCAT. The most likely replacement is known as PARCC, or the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. Students are scheduled to begin [...]
A professor at Teacher’s College, Columbia University has set up a website to allow New York students, parents and educators to post comments about the new state English language arts test. The tests are now tied to Common Core education standards adopted by 45 states — including Florida. New York students have been taking the [...]
Knock it off. That’s the tone in a series of exasperated editorials aimed at critics of new education standards known as Common Core. Florida has been leading the consortium of 45 states who are developing Common Core standards for education. In the past few weeks, objections to the new national benchmarks—and the new standardized tests [...]
New York students are struggling with redesigned tests tied to new education standards adopted by Florida and 44 other states, according to the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. New York schools are giving the new tests for the first time this week. A common complaint? Not enough time: Initial reports from around [...]
Florida is working toward full implementation of Common Core State Standards by the 2014-15 school year. The standards set benchmarks for each grade level. And instead of learning a little bit about a lot of things, students will be expected to absorb a lot of information about fewer subjects. Education Commissioner Tony Bennett says Florida’s [...]
A loose-knit network of education activists generally opposed to the direction Florida has been taking its schools recently is attempting to organize into a more potent political force. The groups include parents, people who want more state funding for schools, and others who are fed up with the brand of testing-based school accountability that Florida [...]
Florida’s special education scholarship program needs more accountability, a school choice researcher argues, despite opposition from a coalition of schools which administer the scholarships. Last week the Coalition of McKay Scholarship Schools said a majority of their members would no longer participate in Florida’s scholarship program for students with disabilities if they were required to [...]
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