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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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February 9, 2012

Five Changes To Expect From Florida’s ‘No Child’ Waiver

So you’ve just been granted a waiver by the U.S. Department of Education — congrats on being one of the lucky 10. You’re ready to take your first steps toward Leaving No Child Left Behind, well, behind! But what does the waiver mean? How will it change things for Florida schools, students and parents? Here’s […]

Read The Federal Concerns About Florida’s ‘No Child’ Alternative

While we’re waiting for the White House and the U.S. Department of Education to say why they approved Florida’s No Child Left Behind waiver request, let’s review what they said about the application in December. Below is the December 20, 2011 letter to the Florida Department of Education outlining initial concerns. At the time, the […]

February 7, 2012

Students Stage a Sit-In to Fight for College Tuition Equity

Students with the activist group We Are Florida have staged a quiet sit-in at Rep. Carlos Lopez Cantera’s office in Tallahassee today, asking him to support HB 81, a bill that would grant in-state tuition for all youth living in Florida regardless of their immigration status or the immigration status of their parents. As StateImpact Florida […]

February 3, 2012

Feedback Loop: Readers Give Failing Marks To Parent Grades, School Rankings

Rep. Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, wants to grade parents, but readers gave her idea failing marks. Dirhart argues grading parents does nothing but generate ill will: This is a total waste of time, and will just lead to more teacher bashing. Yes, many parents are not doing a good job. There is little we can really […]

January 31, 2012

What Happens To Students When A Charter School Closes?

A Hechinger Report story asks an important question: What happens to students when a charter school closes? The story looks at Akron’s Lighthouse Academy, which is being shut down due to low state standardized test scores. Some parents had vowed to never send their children to district schools, but now make have to do so. […]

January 27, 2012

Lawmaker Proposes Grading Florida’s Parents

Florida law requires grades for students, teachers, schools and districts. So why not parents as well? Rep. Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, has introduced a bill — HB 543 — to do just that. Fort Myers News-Press columnist Sam Cook thinks the proposed grades are a bad idea and unlikely to improve the relationship between teachers, parents […]

January 25, 2012

STEM Students And Programs Focus of University of South Florida Study

University of South Florida professor Will Tyson recently won a $1.2 million National Science Foundation grant to study science, technology, engineering and math education, known as STEM. STEM is a hot topic in education circles as policy makers try to figure out ways to produce more graduates with high-tech skills necessary for a transforming economy.Gov. […]

January 24, 2012

Digging Deeper On Florida’s New District Rankings

The folks at the Jacksonville Public Education Fund have a terrific post on their blog that adds some context to Florida’s controversial new district rankings. School officials have criticized the rankings as a simplistic measure considering only Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test scores, and ignoring a district’s size, relative wealth and other underlying factors. The Jacksonville […]

January 23, 2012

Better Handwriting Means Better Grades, Researcher Says

Want your child to do better in math or be a stronger reader? Have them write out your weekly shopping list. That’s according to research by Florida International University professor Laura Dinehart. Dinehart studied more than 3,000 four-year-olds in Miami-Dade County. Those who received better grades on fine motor skill tasks, such as writing, also […]

January 20, 2012

Feedback Loop: Classroom Warfare

Few things get teachers talking quite like their paycheck, so we knew a recent post about a teacher salary study would get some reaction. And did it ever. Most people criticized the study, conducted by two conservative-leaning think tanks, with some picking apart the methodology. A few said the criticism of teacher pay is the […]

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