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.
President Barack Obama (left), U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan (middle) and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (right) at a Miami rally in March.
Former Gov. Jeb Bush has weighed in on Tuesday’s National Assessment of Educational Progress results. His solution to stalled progress: Raise the standards.
But Bush may have buried the lead in his statement, advocating against further budget cuts. Florida cut the sixth-most from the K-12 budget since 2008, according to one survey.
“And investing in education is also important,” Bush’s statement says. “We urge the Florida Legislature to protect funding for public education, particularly policies and programs that support, incentivize and reward student achievement.”
Gov. Rick Scott kept details of his education plans close to the vest in a radio interview Tuesday.
Gov. Rick Scott sat down for an interview with WLRN’s Phil Latzman this morning. StateImpact Florida slipped Phil a few questions.
Here’s a transcript of Scott’s responses. Listen to the full interview here.
Q: Studies show that half of STEM graduates — science, technology, engineering and math — choose careers in other fields. What specific policies are you advocating of schools to graduate more STEM graduates? And how could you make sure those STEM graduates actually take those jobs?
A: What I want to do is I want to start the debate. I want to understand…what I’ve done is, as you know, I’ve asked from our university presidents a lot of information about ‘You know, what sort of research are we doing to find out what sort of jobs are out there? What are employers looking for? What employers needs are?’
Florida scores on the National Assessment of Education Progress, also known as the nation's report card, have been flat the past six years.
Florida students have shown little progress the past six years on a national assessment test, according to National Assessment of Educational Progress scores released Tuesday.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress, also referred to as the nation’s report card, is considered the yardstick by which states can compare themselves and their progress over time.
First the good news: Fourth grade students continue to score above the national average on the reading test. Florida’s fourth graders scored 225 on a 500-point scale, besting the national average of 220.
Those scores were tenth-best in the country.
But 8th grade students continue to score below the national average on math. Florida students scored 278 while the national average was 283.
The headline? Low-income Title I schools could lose $1.1 billion. Other automatic cuts would include financial aid and career and technical education for adults.
If a debt deal is struck, Pell Grants would likely take a hit. Florida has the third-most Pell Grant recipients in the country.
A cat statue found on Key Marco in Southwest Florida.
Our story last week looking at Bureau of Labor Statistics data in the wake of Gov. Rick Scott’s criticism of anthropology majors generated more conversation than anything else we’ve done at StateImpact Florida.
Anthromajor, expressing the majority opinion, said the skills learned are not the domain of tweedy eggheads and translate to business:
I am an Executive Managing Director, Senior VP with a large real estate company in a major US city. I possess a bachelor of science in Anthropology. It was my education and training that helped me land a job in real estate years ago. My employer noticed that my background could be helpful a multi-cultural environment. Not only did my education help me attain an understanding of diverse cultures, the intense math and science courses prepared me to manage multi-million-dollar assets.
Florida schools lack adequate funding, according to a survey of state business leaders.
More than 85 percent of surveyed businesspeople believe Florida does not spend enough on K-12 education, according to a survey by the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations released earlier this month.
The unscientific poll surveyed 277 members of state education funds, which the CFEF says are typically community business people.
Is anthropology a science? Scientists say yes, according to a University of Florida professor.
A commenter, citing a letter from a University of Florida anthropology professor, responds to the ongoing conversation about whether anthropology is a STEM study.
The opinions of the groups assessing anthropology should not be treated equally:
First, there are scientific organizations, institutions built, managed
and participated in by a broad spectrum of scientists, united in the
use of scientific methodologies and theoretical structures for data
gathering and analysis to test the hypotheses and theories. Mentioned
in the Truth-O-Meter article is one: the National Science Foundation,
whose personnel is largely comprised of actual scientists. NSF is a
powerful arbiter STEM scientific research because it manages the
distribution of public monies in support of scientific endeavors…
Second: the other agencies mentioned by
Truth-O-Meter as arbiters of scientific standing are not scientific
organizations, but bureaucratic ones, in which some scientists
participate but are agencies subject to political whims, preferences and
often the selective utilization of factual materials responding to
those who establish them
Scientist-led groups believe anthropology is a STEM field, the professor writes.
Scott has yet to submit a proposal, but the Texas reforms have sparked criticisms from administration and faculty. Florida State University’s president has also drafted an alternative plan to measure school performance.
“Many of the accountability proposals in the Texas plan are currently embedded in the University of Florida’s approach to accountability,” Machen wrote to Scott, noting faculty are vigorously reviewed. “Students control their destiny through the ability to take their state-funded Bright Futures scholarships wherever they choose to matriculate. Student satisfaction and success is further measured by retention rates, graduation rates, and applicant demand for admission.”
School Choice Ohio has released a roadmap for improving Buckeye State schools that looks a lot like Florida's plan.
In the trade balance between Ohio and Florida, the Sunshine State usually imports far more than it exports. (Those imports are usually in Clearwater wearing Ohio State jerseys on Saturdays)
But School Choice Ohio believes the Buckeye State should import some education ideas from Florida.
We should note the report was authored by a researcher at the Tallahassee-based Foundation for Excellence in Education, whose founder is former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. Bush implemented many of the reforms the report credits for Florida’s improvement. The conclusions echo many of the accomplishments Bush has previously claimed.
Florida’s low-income students saw the largest gains in reading and math scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress test between 1998 and 2009, the report argues. Florida’s gains put it roughly even with Ohio for fourth grade reading scores.
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We should note the report was authored by a researcher at the Tallahassee-based