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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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May 3, 2012

Florida Principals Get Social Media Tool For Collaboration

Think of it as an online teachers’ lounge. Instead of sitting on a couch talking over coffee, principals can share best practices and lesson plans online. School leaders in Florida are getting an assist from the Florida Department of Education to more effectively communicate with their fellow educators.

May 1, 2012

After FCAT Testing Comes Field Trips

Editor’s note: This post was written by WLRN reporter Anthony Cave. The FCAT testing season is over. And students say schools are rounding out the school year with a little fun. Spencer Semon, an eighth-grader at North Miami Middle school says, “all we have is field trips left and that’s about it.” Semon and almost […]

April 27, 2012

Feedback Loop: The Hare And The Pineapple

Monday’s post about New York’s education department officials throwing out the now-infamous “The Hare and the Pineapple” section of its statewide reading was a lesson in reading comprehension itself. Readers disagreed on whether the section of the test was fair or not. Alejandro Roggio thought the passage and questions were fine:

April 23, 2012

New York Pulls “The Hare and the Pineapple” From State Reading Test

The New York education department took the unusual step of releasing a state reading test section last week after Internet buzz about the confusing passage and questions built to a roar. The passage was called the “Hare and the Pineapple,” and was authored by children’s author Daniel Pinkwater. Typically test questions are not released to […]

April 20, 2012

Inside FCAT 2.0: What Changes Mean for Teachers, Students

Danna Contreras doesn’t like the new FCAT. The sophomore at Booker T. Washington High School in Miami emigrated from Colombia three years ago. She wears thick, pink-rimmed glasses and she squints a lot. She says the new computerized version is harder to take. “I think I am better with paper, not on the computer because […]

Feedback Loop: FCAT Not Blinding Them With Science

Earlier this week we wrote about “Happy Scientist” blogger Robert Krampf, who criticized some of the questions, answers and background material on practice materials for the FCAT science test. Krampf argued the test presented one multiple choice answer as correct, when a number of the answers were scientifically correct. Krampf took his concerns to the […]

April 18, 2012

Send Us Your Stories About FCAT Problems

Some St. Johns County students had trouble logging in to take the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test online, according to the St. Augustine Record. Florida is expanding the use of computer-based testing. The problems were with test contractor Pearson, school officials said. Pearson is being paid $254 million over four years to administer the FCAT. But […]

Rural Students Vs. Urban Students: Who Performs Better in College-Level Classes?

In Florida’s rural counties, high school leaders say they can’t offer as many college-level courses as large urban high schools. But rural students are more likely to earn college credit for the college courses they do take, than urban students. Low participation counts against the grade high schools get by the state, which is tied to […]

April 17, 2012

Science Blogger Finds Problems With FCAT Questions

“The Happy Scientist,” blogger Robert Krampf, notes a number of problems with practice questions for Florida’s 5th and 8th grade FCAT science exams. Among the issues are correct answers that rely on incorrect definitions, and answers test designers consider incorrect but actually are scientifically correct. An example: A glossary of definitions (Appendix C) is provided […]

One Big Difference Between Ohio And Florida Standardized Tests

Our friends at StateImpact Ohio have an interesting look at how Ohio comes up with the wording on its standardized tests. By committee, of course. A controversy over a question about the Arab perception of the creation of Israel prompted concerns that the questions might not be without bias. In Florida, though, the test contractor […]

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