Florida

Putting Education Reform To The Test

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Stories about students and the initiatives designed to improve performance. Are the many education reforms Florida has adopted having an impact?

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December 7, 2012

Feedback Loop: Remedial Response

This week we started our series in partnership with the Florida Center for Investigative Journalism looking at why so many students in the Florida College System require remedial classes before they can start on their degree. The classes cost money, students receive no credit and they lengthen the time it takes to earn a degree. […]

December 6, 2012

The Problems With Florida School Data

Wednesday the Florida Department of Education unveiled statewide teacher evaluation data, part of a new law that overhauls how teacher performance is measured in Florida. The agency held a press conference by phone to discuss the accomplishment. And then the data quietly disappeared that afternoon. The agency later admitted that Hillsborough County school officials had […]

December 4, 2012

13th Grade: Explaining the Postsecondary Education Readiness Test

Along with our partners at the Florida Center for Investigative reporting, we’ve been telling you about the growing need for remedial courses at Florida’s state colleges. Students are required to take remedial courses because of their scores on PERT — the Postsecondary Education Readiness Test. The test is given to high school students to determine […]

December 3, 2012
November 28, 2012

Five Florida Districts Selected As Race To The Top Finalists

Five Florida districts have been chosen as finalists for a total of $400 million in federal Race to the Top grants. Broward, Charlotte, Manatee, Miami-Dade, and Seminole county schools were among the 61 finalists chosen from 372 applications. The department expects to award 15 to 25 grants, which will be announced by year’s end. The […]

November 27, 2012

Inside Florida’s Graduation Rate: Comparing Student Groups

This chart uses new federal graduation rate data to compare Florida to other states. We chose California, another large state with a diverse population, neighboring Georgia and Iowa, the state with the highest overall graduation rate. The federal data breaks down rates among subgroups, both by race and by issues such as disabilities, English knowledge […]

Florida Among States With Lowest High School Graduation Rates

Florida has one of the nation’s lowest graduation rates, according to new federal data released Monday. The U.S. Department of Education shows preliminary four-year high school graduation rates in 2010-2011. It’s the first time that “all states used a common, rigorous measure,” according to the federal agency. Florida landed in the bottom 20 percent of […]

November 26, 2012

Researcher Says State Charter School Study Was ‘Poorly Done’ And ‘Biased’

A University of Central Florida business professor and the Florida Department of Education have been swapping research the past week in a debate about whether charter schools perform better than district schools. UCF professor Stanley Smith opened the debate with his analysis of student achievement at traditional and charter schools. His general assessment is that […]

November 21, 2012

State Analysis Says Florida Charters Perform Better Than Traditional Schools

Here’s more fuel for the fire in the charter school debate. Student achievement data compiled by the Florida Department of Education suggests charter students are performing better than their peers in traditional schools. That goes against research by Dr. Stanley Smith, a University of Central Florida business professor. He found that charters perform worse than […]

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