John O'Connor is the Miami-based education reporter for StateImpact Florida. John previously covered politics, the budget and taxes for The (Columbia, S.C) State. He is a graduate of Allegheny College and the University of Maryland.
More troubling for the new standards? The more people surveyed said they know about the standards, the less likely they were to support Common Core or believe Common Core would improve schools or produce high school graduates who were ready for college.
Sixty-one percent of those who said they knew “a great deal” about Common Core thought the standards were not good policy. For those who said they knew “only a little” about Common Core, 43 percent said Common Core was good policy.
Overall, half of Democrats thought Common Core was good policy. Just one-third of independents and 30 percent of Republicans thought the standards were good policy.
Non-whites were more likely to support the standards, as were those living in the Midwest and West. Opposition to Common Core was strongest in the South — 60 percent said Common Core is not good policy — and Northeast.
Roland Park K-8 Magnet School science teacher Jaraux Washington.
Jaraux Washington is a science teacher at Tampa’s Roland Park K-8 Magnet School for International Studies. So it’s not surprising she turns to biology for a metaphor to describe teaching.
“Especially in seventh grade you understand that this is a process,” she says, “and sometimes you’re the planter and sometimes you’re the waterer and sometimes you get to see the harvest.”
Today is the start of Teacher Appreciation Week, and Washington is one of many teachers participating in a social media campaign to clear up misconceptions and tell the public what the job is really about. It’s called #TeachingIs.
#TeachingIs 12+ hour days , teaching, coaching, cheering, planning…….no overtime or time and a half. Getting paid in seeds sown
The North Carolina-based Center for Teaching Quality is leading the campaign. The non-profit helps teachers share good practices and encourages and trains teachers to be leaders without leaving the classroom.
We spoke to three Florida teachers participating, asked them to read and discuss their thoughts.
Florida lawmakers approved a bill clarify high school graduation requirements based on what year a student entered ninth grade.
Last year the Legislature approved a bill which overhauled Florida’s high school graduation requirements. The bill maintains a standard diploma and created two new diploma tracks; a scholar track for students considering competitive universities; and a career-focused track for students who want to earn industry certifications before graduation.
But the bill created some confusion about what graduation requirements applied to which students.
Students entering grade nine before the 2010 – 2011 school year: Four credits in English/ELA; four credits in mathematics, which must include Algebra I; three credits in science, two of which must have a laboratory component; three credits in social studies of which one credit in World History, one credit in U.S. History, one-half credit in U.S. Government, and one-half credit in economies is required; one credit in fine or performing arts, speech and debate, or practical arts; one credit in physical education; and eight credits in electives.
Starting at age 16, students in England take between 15 and 20 big exams each year. If they do well, they’ll get another round of exams the following year. Do poorly, and students aren’t likely to get into the university of their choice.
Finland students face up to 40 hours of tests in order to graduate high school. And universities require their own entrance exams.
Only Tennessee charter school students receive more funding than traditional district students. The gap ranges from $12,736 per student in Washington, D.C. to $365 in New Mexico. The study looked at the budget year ending in 2011 in 30 states and 48 major urban areas.
“These findings tell us conclusively that public charter schools tend to receive far less money, and that inequity from state-controlled funding is most clearly responsible for the gap in funding,” said Larry Maloney, the study’s lead researcher. “The research cannot explain, however, exactly why local governments provide students in public charter schools with so much less money for their education than they provide students in traditional public schools.”
Florida is a different story though because the state per-student funding is equal. One reason for the difference here is local taxes school districts collect for building maintenance and construction. Charter schools don’t receive a share of that money in most Florida school districts. Charter schools also typically receive a smaller share of federal funding.
The effort, known as Quality Education for All, is intended to help improve schools that have been the center of education-related lawsuits for decades.
The money will pay bonuses to teachers who choose to work in the three-dozen schools, with additional bonuses if teachers improve student performance. The money will also be used to hire Teach For America trained teachers, create a teacher residency program, develop a new district data system for teachers and administrators and more.
The bright spots? Florida’s graduation rates for Hispanic students and English language learners are near the national average. Just eight states have a lower dropout rate than Florida, at 2.1 percent. The national dropout rate is 3.3 percent.
The reversal was led by School Board member Ron Crawford, who last year cast the swing vote to re-establish corporal punishment after a three-year absence. On Tuesday, Crawford said he had to listen to his constituents.
Education Week takes a look at how Orange County and Long Beach, Calif. schools made a big curriculum decision.
Education Week takes a long look at how schools around Orlando and in Long Beach, Calif. solved a similar problem: choosing a curriculum for new Common Core math, literacy and language arts standards.
Orange County went with big publishing companies. Long Beach schools designed their own curriculum. It’s a decision many school districts are facing as they switch to the new standards. Florida schools will complete the transition this fall.
StateImpact seeks to inform and engage local communities with broadcast and online news focused on how state government decisions affect your lives. Learn More »
