Education experts are worried about the development of Florida's next standardized test.
For the first time, a majority of experts surveyed by a Washington D.C.-based education consulting are concerned about the progress Florida and 21 other states are making developing the next generation of standardized test.
“Millions of dollars have been spent over the past few years with very little concrete to show for it,” one insider said.
Florida is one of 21 states helping design the PARCC exam as part of a move to new education standards known as Common Core. Education Commissioner Tony Bennett said this week that Florida may need to come up with a ‘Plan B’ in case the test isn’t ready for the 2014-2015 school year.
District schools must calculate the class size of every classroom and count every violation. Charter schools are allowed to use a school-wide average, which school officials say is more forgiving.
In the 2010-2011 school year, 28 of 71 Florida schools districts — 39 percent — were penalized for not meeting class size limits, according to state data. In 2011-2012, 22 of 71 Florida districts — 31 percent — did not meet class size limits.
Resolutions issued by the NAACP and LULAC Florida refer to parent trigger bills as controversial and experimental.
Two civil right groups have teamed up to write resolutions against the proposed Parent Empowerment in Education bill in Florida.
The bill — best known as the “parent trigger” — passed the Florida House last year but failed on a tie vote in the Senate on the final day of the legislative session.
“Currently it is done on a class by class basis,” said Rep. George Moraitis, R-Fort Lauderdale, the bill’s sponsor. “This would change it to a school wide average, which is the same as the charter schools have.”
UPDATE: K12 spokesman Jeff Kwitowski has responded, sending along a link to an op-ed from a TNVA teacher explaining the school grading system, and the school’s response. He also adds some context to the statistic about meeting state math standards. See his comment below.
Tennessee lawmakers say they are considering limiting K12’s Tennessee Virtual Academy enrollment if scores don’t improve.
Tony Bennett was Superintendent of Public Instruction in Indiana for one term. He lost his re-election bid in November 2012, and was appointed Florida's schools chief by Governor Rick Scott.
But Education Commissioner Tony Bennett told the State Board of Education politics are about to become an issue as well.
The standards, known as Common Core State Standards, have been fully adopted by 45 states and the District of Columbia. Educators say the new standards ask what students know and require them to prove how they know it. Critics say the standards are no better than what many states have already adopted.
Bennett said Monday that some states are going to face sticker shock when they realize the cost of the new testing. Others, he said, might want to set lower passing scores than Florida.
Mike Kooi with the Florida Department of Education says districts may come up with a variety of teacher evaluation plans, as long as they comply with the Student Success Act.
That’s because evaluations will vary — not just between charter schools and regular public schools — but between public school districts.
Mike Kooi, Executive Director of the Office of Independent Education and Parental Choice, has been trying to set the record straight after a legislative committee took up a new charter school bill earlier this month. The bill would set standards for opening a charter school and add regulations to existing ones, but it left the teacher’s union and others with the wrong idea.
“They were under the incorrect impression that the bill took charter schools out of the requirement for teacher evaluation systems, and that just simply isn’t the case,” Kooi said.
By 2014-15, all public school teachers in Florida – including those at privately run charter schools – will have to be evaluated based on standards set forth by the Student Success Act, also known as Senate Bill 736.
State laws sets standards for public school teacher evaluations. Whether charter school teachers will be evaluated on par with their traditional public school counterparts is questionable.
The way charter school teachers are evaluated has become a source of conflict for teachers and for lawmakers in Tallahassee.
The question isn’t whether charter teachers have to be evaluated under state law – they do.
The point of contention is whether those evaluations will be the same, putting teachers in both camps on a par with each other. That seems to be open to interpretation.
Join our live online education chat Tuesday, Feb. 19th here on StateImpact Florida.
StateImpact Florida and WLRN are holding an online education chat in advance of our WLRN-Miami Herald News Town Hall, where you’ll get the chance to ask lawmakers about their education priorities this legislative session.
Sen. John Legg, R-Port Richey, says some Florida schools might not be ready for a fall 2014 deadline for new education standards and testing.
Florida lawmakers are considering allowing the state education commissioner to partially delay implementation of new, tougher education standards and testing.
“I think it’s going to be a challenge,” Legg says. “It’s going to be difficult to meet that deadline unless we start looking at significant investments or perhaps even delaying that deadline or looking at an alternative course.
“You don’t want to have students moving around the schools getting ready to do assessments, figuring that out mid-year. You want to have that plan in place before school starts, before you start doing the testing schedule. I’m real concerned that we’re not going to be able to implement it correctly.”
The standards, known as Common Core, have been adopted by 45 states. The standards put more emphasis on analysis and critical thinking, experts say, asking students to prove not only what they know, but how they know it.
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