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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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April 6, 2015

A Q & A With The University Of Florida’s New President

Three months ago Kent Fuchs became president of the University of Florida, leaving New York’s Cornell University. Fuchs says Florida universities are adding new faculty, but opposition to higher tuition means more pressure to find private donations. The University of Florida is also expanding a new online program, with a goal of eventually enrolling 24,000 […]

March 30, 2015

Despite Problems, Experts Say Computerized Testing Is The Answer For Florida Schools

Testing experts say the problems Florida’s has had with its new statewide exam so far are likely not serious enough for the state to consider throwing out this year’s test scores on the Florida Standards Assessments. Earlier this month a software problem meant students had trouble logging onto the writing exam for several days, and […]

March 26, 2015

About That 3rd Grade Reading Requirement

Yesterday, a Senate committee appeared to suspend for one year Florida’s requirement that the lowest-performing 3rd graders be held back while the state validates results from its new test. But Senate Education committee chairman John Legg says it’s not that simple. What the committee actually did, Legg says, is put the responsibility on school districts […]

March 23, 2015

Project Gives Developmentally Disabled a Chance to Go to College

A college education is generally considered a student’s best shot at getting a good job these days, and it’s often assumed most high schoolers are prepared to attend college. But there’s one group that has been quietly excluded from that process — students with intellectual disabilities. A program at the University of South Florida St. […]

March 16, 2015

Testing, School Choice, PE: A Town Hall Conversation About Florida Education

This week, PBS is launching a new documentary series “180 Days.” One of the films focuses on Hartsville, South Carolina, a rural and poor district which has managed to become one of the highest rating school districts according to South Carolina’s ranking. Tampa public media station WUSF hosted a town hall meeting at Artz 4 […]

March 9, 2015

Five Questions About Florida’s Testing Problems

Last week, dozens of Florida school districts had to postpone state testing because of problems with the new Florida Standards Assessments. Students couldn’t log in to the online writing exam — and some who did were booted out and temporarily lost their answers. The problems seem to have been resolved Thursday. By Friday, more than […]

March 5, 2015

Is Typing A Test A Big Deal For Students?

This week Florida students are taking the new Florida Standards Assessments writing test for the first time. The test is online for students in 8th through 10th grade, which has led some to wonder whether it’s fair to ask students to type the exam rather than write by hand? Lawmakers asked Education Commissioner Pam Stewart […]

March 3, 2015

School Districts Report Second Day Of Testing Problems

Editor’s note: This story has been updated. For the second day in a row, some Florida school districts decided to suspend required testing because of computer problems. The Florida Department of Education told school leaders this morning that test provider American Institutes for Research had found and corrected the problems that shut down testing Monday. […]

What Went Wrong With Florida Testing Yesterday?

Yesterday school districts across the state had to suspend the state writing test. It was the first day Florida schools attempted to use the Florida Standards Assessments. This morning, Education Commissioner Pam Stewart sent an email to school superintendents explaining what happened. The problem, she says, was with test firm American Institutes for Research. Here’s […]

March 2, 2015

Ready Or Not, Students, New Florida Exam Is Here

At Miami’s iPrep Academy, getting ready for the state’s new standardized test includes rapping. Two students are recording the daily announcements, telling classmates when and where they need to be starting today. “Monday is ninth graders, with last name A to G,” one student raps, in a rhyme that’s no threat to Miami’s Rick Ross. […]

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