Teaching

Background

Merit pay; eliminating tenure; new teacher evaluations — how are school, district and state policies affecting how educators and their students perform?

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October 6, 2011

Teacher merit pay systems need less objectivity and more accountability if they are to work, argues an economist at the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute. Rating and paying teachers based on student test scores is unlikely to improve teachers, writes Arnold Kling. It is easier to “game” the system if it is based on a simple formula, […]

October 5, 2011

Schools You Think Are Charters… But Aren’t

There are a lot of Florida schools that look and function like charters, but really aren’t. And when we embarked on this series, we couldn’t always tell the difference between one public school with a focus on science and another public school with a focus on science. But it turns out there can be quite a […]

September 29, 2011

“Civil Rights Education Boils Down To Two People, Four Words”

When it comes to teaching K-12 students about the nation’s civil rights movement, more than half of U.S. states are failing, according to a new study by the Southern Poverty Law Center. In the study, “Teaching the Movement: The State of Civil Rights Education 2011”, SPLC’s Teaching Tolerance arm looked at each state’s required education standards and curriculum, and […]

September 27, 2011

Go West Young Teachers

Mountain states are adding more teachers than the rest of the country, according to a Stateline.org analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. North Dakota led the way in percentage increase in teaching positions between 2008 and 2010, followed by Montana. Florida added slightly more than 20,000 elementary and secondary education jobs during the three-year period, […]

September 14, 2011

Florida Teachers’ Union Take Reform Law to Court

Florida’s teacher union will challenge a law ending long-term contracts and requiring merit pay in court, according to the Associated Press. The law, known as the Student Success Act or S. 736, was passed this spring. School districts are just starting to design systems to evaluate teachers and pay the highest-rated teachers more. For more […]

September 13, 2011

Is Florida Ready To Consider Texas Higher Ed Reforms?

Is it possible to evaluate a college professor the same way NFL scouts measure the speed, strength and quickness of college athletes? Florida Gov. Rick Scott wants to have that debate. He’s looking to a controversial Texas proposal as a guide. The Texas model has sparked a Lone Star backlash from schools concerned the plan […]

August 31, 2011

Mapping Average Teacher Salary Change in Florida

How much has the average teacher’s salary changed since the 2007-08 school year? We’ve visualized the changes in an interactive map.

August 25, 2011

Teacher Suspended Over Facebook Post Returns to Work

The Lake County teacher suspended over his Facebook comments critical of a New York law allowing gay marriage is back at work today, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Jerry Buell chairs the social studies department at Mount Dora High School and was the school teacher of the year. Buell was suspended last week when he […]

August 23, 2011

Hillsborough Wins Principal Development Grant

Hillsborough County has won another national education grant, this time to improve principal training. The Wallace Foundation announced Hillsborough was one of six districts to share a $75 million, six-year grant. Districts will receive $7.5 million to $12.5 million to develop programs in four areas: rigorous job requirements, high-quality training, selective hiring, and on-the-job evaluation […]

August 22, 2011

Teachers Believe Income Is Out of Their Hands

First grade teacher Elton Wright feels powerless. He and his wife, also a teacher, are absorbing a 3 percent cut in pay required earlier this year by the Florida Legislature. “People are angry,” said Wright, who teaches at Eagle’s Nest Elementary School in Orange County. “They feel as though this was forced on them. There […]

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