With a tougher grading formula looming for Florida’s schools, state Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson is recommending a plan that would keep any public school from falling more than one letter grade this year.
In a list of recommendations, Robinson asks the Florida Board of Education to “authorize a maximum one school letter grade drop for 2011-12 to allow public school leaders, teachers and students a year of transition into our new standards.”
Seven Florida high school’s ranked among the nation’s top 50.
But we thought it might be interesting to see how U.S. News’ ranking compared to the rankings the Florida Department of Education released last year.
A handful of schools showed a difference in the two rankings, but for the most part the rankings aligned. Florida’s top-ranked high school, Collegiate High School at Northwest Florida State College, does not show up in the U.S. News rankings at all.
Florida elementary schools that don’t perform up to par in reading will have an extra hour tacked on to their day. A new law that goes in to effect this summer will target the worst 100 performers.
The law says each school district having low-performing elementary schools will have to provide an additional hour of intensive reading instruction each day. Districts will pay for the expanded school day with more than $600-million set aside by legislators to cover the law.
Teachers rally against proposed state budget cuts in March 2011.
Contract negotiations between Florida’s school districts and teacher unions is in full swing, but district face very different budget situations.
Here’s a roundup of labor news around the state from the past week:
Palm Beach County is facing a $31.7 million budget shortfall, but the teachers’ union is asking for raises, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Negotiations are expected to begin this month.
Sarasota County teachers can expect their first pay bump after four years of salary cuts and paying more for benefits, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports. The district and union have agreed to a 2.2 percent bonus for next year’s contract.
Teacher candidates at the University of Massachusetts are objecting to a video-based evaluation program.
Teachers-in-training at the University of Massachusetts are leading a protest against a pilot national teacher evaluation program being developed by testing giant Pearson and Stanford University, the New York Times reports.
The students and their instructor are worried that turning over two 10-minute videos and a 40-page test to a faceless evaluator will not produce a useful assessment.
Nearly all of the 68 middle and high school teaching candidates have declined to participate.
Florida Polytechnic University in Lakeland is ready for its own Board of Trustees. Gov. Rick Scott has launched a national search for thirteen trustees that will govern Florida’s 12th public university.
“We must have a globally competitive education system that will turn out leaders in technology and innovation,” said Scott. “I look forward to calling on talented and visionary individuals who will set Florida Polytechnic on a path toward world-class excellence.”
Gov. Rick Scott has created another task force. It comes on the heels of his new public safety panel charged with examining the Stand Your Ground law. This one will concentrate on reforming the State University System.
Scott says the Blue Ribbon Task Force on State Higher Education Reform will look at how the State University System is governed. “It’s time to assess the progress of prior reform efforts and identify strategies to improve efficiencies and enhance the system’s effectiveness as an economic catalyst,” said Scott.
The Governor’s Office says the focus on higher education will help give Florida a competitive edge in growing the economy and creating jobs.
Students at Power U Center in Miami advocate for keeping students in class and out of in-school suspension.
There is a place on school campuses for students who break the rules.
In some Florida schools, it’s called SCSI.
Marcus Pryor, a junior at Miami Northwestern Senior High, thinks it stands for School Criminal Scene Investigation.
SCSI actually stands for School Center for Special Instruction. And in Miami, it’s where students go when they get an in-school suspension.
It’s an alternative to out-of-school suspension Florida schools can use for offenses considered minor, like consistent tardiness, wearing baggy clothing or cutting class.
The idea is that students will learn more during an in-school suspension. But being on school campus does not mean students are actually in class or receiving instruction.
Pryor got an in-school suspension for consistent tardiness when he was in middle school. He said the other kids in the classroom were a group of friends who had all cut class.
“They all have their friends in there with them and that’s the time they really want to make fun and criticize,” Pryor said.
New York education officials are tossing a math question from the state test.
New York education officials are throwing out a question on a state standardized test — the fourth time in a month the state has had to do so, according to the New York Times‘ Schoolbook blog.
This time it’s a math question above above the heads of fifth graders that’s causing the problem. To solve it, students would need to know the Pythagorean theorem and imperfect square roots — two concepts fifth graders have yet to learn.
New York’s testing contractor, Pearson, also holds Florida’s testing contract.
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