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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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March 7, 2012

Lawsuit Challenges Schools’ Ability To Restrain Students

An Ohio state agency is suing Columbus public schools over the use of “seclusion rooms often used to isolate special needs students, according to our colleagues at StateImpact Ohio. Florida also allows schools to seclude and restrain students with disabilities. The state places a few limits on schools: Students can not be choked or their […]

February 29, 2012

Clermont Struggles With Homeless Students

The Associated Press has a terrific profile out on a homeless student in Lake County, the latest in a series of stories using Florida as the face of the Great Recession. The story follows a 60 Minutes profile of two Seminole County siblings. The Florida Center for Investigative Reporting looked at the rising numbers of […]

February 28, 2012

South Florida School Tests FCAT Placebo

A South Florida school is feeding students “FCAT power bars” and hoping the apple-flavored cereal bar gives students more confidence facing the annual Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, according to the Sun-Sentinel. The district says they don’t want kids at Palm Beach County’s Hagen Road Elementary School to take the test on an empty stomach. But […]

February 27, 2012

7 Questions About Changing Florida’s School Grading System

Florida’s Board of Education is meeting tomorrow to debate changing the state’s school grading system. The proposal has drawn criticism from educators and parents — particularly a proposal to include students with disabilities in the formula. Here’s seven questions about what’s being proposed, how it could affect schools and why it matters. 1. Why is […]

February 24, 2012

Feedback Loop: Bill Gates And Florida’s Teacher Evaluations

Last week’s story on Florida’s teacher evaluation formula drew some thoughtful responses, including a deeper at the issues look over on the Shanker Blog. Many of the comments here expressed disbelief that Florida’s formula could measure what was promised. Floridagadfly says teaching can not be boiled down to a statistical model because students are not […]

February 22, 2012

Feedback Loop: Read Florida’s Teacher Evaluation Formula

A listener heard our recent story about Florida’s teacher evaluation formula, and asked us to post it on the StateImpact Florida Facebook page. “You’ve made so much of its complexity,” Chris Harris wrote. “It seems the best way to demonstrate that is to publish it in its entirety.” We agree, so here it is with […]

Should Students With Disabilities Count Toward School Grades?

One of the strings that comes with Florida’s exemptions from some No Child Left Behind requirements is that the state needs to include more students in its school grade formula. This includes students with disabilities and those learning English. Lawmakers are working on a bill and the state Board of Education will meet next week […]

Explaining Why More Florida Schools Will Earn Failing Grades

Florida is getting stricter about the way it grades schools, and the proposed rules could mean a spike in the number of elementary, middle and high schools earning ‘F’ grades. The state Board of Education is considering a new grading system next week. Before that meeting, state education officials made projections on the number of F […]

February 17, 2012

Some Students With Incarcerated, Absent Parents Pay Higher Tuition

A bill seen mostly as an effort to give immigrant families cheaper college tuition rates has died in the Florida Senate Judiciary Committee. The failed SB 106 would have allowed undocumented students and legal Florida residents with undocumented parents to pay in-state tuition rates, which are up to three times less expensive than the out-of-state […]

February 15, 2012

Should Students Repeat Third-Grade if They Can’t Read Well?

Florida has been holding back third graders who fail the state reading exam since 2003. Now Colorado, Iowa, New Mexico and Tennessee are trying to mirror Florida’s policy, according to The Wall Street Journal. But is Florida’s policy a good one? Jaryn Emhof, with the Foundation for Florida’s Future said third grade is the most important […]

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