Editor’s note: This post was written by WUSF’s Mark Schreiner.
Sam DuPont and Audrey Buttice were once mild-mannered USF Ph.D. students.
As part of a National Science Foundation-funded fellowship program, they’d visit elementary schools around the Tampa area and do science demonstrations. But they thought that they could reach more students by videotaping their work—they just needed a hook.
DuPont says they found their answer while waiting in line at Disney World.
“At first we’re like, ‘Pirates!’ and we’re like, ‘Nah, that’s not good.’ Then we’re like, ‘Clowns!’ and we’re like, ‘Ah, that’s a little too juvenile,’ and then we were like, ‘Ah, I got it, superheroes!’ and from there, that’s history!”
So, along with classmate Robert Bair, they came up with new alter egos and a back story–a lab accident that transformed them from normal scientists to super-powered members of The Scientific League of Superheroes.
The U.S. Department of Education unveiled the FAFSA Completion Tool website a few months ago to track information about applicants around the country.
Reasons for not applying include confusion over eligibility, fear of more debt and lack of information about the application process according to Florida C.A.N.
The University of Central Florida asked for a 15 percent increase — the board said no. Florida Gulf Coast asked for a 15 percent increase, but wound up with 12 percent. New College of Florida got a 15 percent raise.
The board proposed a 15 percent increase for Florida State University — it failed. Then they tried a 14 percent hike — spiked again.
The board then proposed a 13 percent increase, which failed without a majority on an 8-8 vote.
That’s when Florida State University president Eric Barron put his foot down.
The board set up 857 empty school desks on the National Mall in Washington D.C., representing the 857 students that drop out of school every hour, according to the College Board.
Its an effort to urge presidential candidates to make education reform a priority on the campaign trail.
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan posted a picture of the display on Facebook.
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan posted a picture on Facebook of himself on the National Mall during the College Board's display.
The College Board asked passersby to sign its petition.
It said: “If you want my support, I need to hear more from you about how you plan to fix the problems with education. And not just the same old platitudes. I want to know that you have real, tangible solutions, and that once in office, you’re ready to take serious action. I’ll be watching your acceptance speech at your party’s convention.” Continue Reading →
The study looked at school funding in 2007, 2008 and 2009.
The researchers argue a good state education funding scheme does two things: Spends more money on education relative to the state’s wealth, and is “progressive,” allocating more money to school districts with higher poverty rates.
Sheri Leitch with her son Austin Beaucage, 16, hold up a pictures of their son and brother Shayne Ijames, 13 who committed suicide on May 2, 2012.
When a sixth grader at Southport Middle School hung himself at his Port St. Lucie home, his school made the announcement to some students the next morning.
A crisis intervention team went to every class 13-year-old Shayne Ijames attended to tell sixth graders their classmate had committed suicide.
His mom, Sheri Leitch, is outraged.
“They should have waited a couple of days and really thought about how they were going to sit the children down and talk to them about it,” Leitch said.
“At least say he passed away. But to tell them that I think was awful. This was life-altering for all of these children.”
Janice Karst with Port St. Lucie schools says the district handles crisis situations differently depending on the ages of students, they type of incident and the time of day. Continue Reading →
The report’s conclusions echo our investigative story from last year that found 86 percent of Florida charter schools do not enroll any children with profound disabilities — compared to more than half of district schools which do.
The GAO report also found the largest gap was for students with intellectual disabilities. District schools enrolled students with disabilities at a rate nearly twice that of charter schools — though those students are a small percentage of the total student body.
But charter schools were more likely than district schools to have high percentages of students with disabilities. That’s likely because of schools such as the UCP charter chain in Orlando and Tampa’s Pepin Academies which specialize in autism or other disabilities.
Florida’s Board of Governors plan for the future is a trilogy.
Most states have long-term goals and an accountability plan to make sure everyone follows through.
But Dr. Jan Ignash, Vice Chancellor of the State University System, says it’s the middle volume that could be the most interesting as the board meets at the University of Central Florida this week.
“The board is now in the middle stage of what our chancellor calls the three great books. The strategic plan sets the long-range system plan and includes goals for degree production, research and other measures out to the year 2025,” said Ignash. “The accountability report is the other book end.”
“But in the middle are these university work plans, and this is really unique. There are not many states that do this,” said Ignash. Continue Reading →
One section of the 4th grade exam had students measure volume change as ice melts. Seventy-one percent of those tested accurately measured the change in volume. But only 15 percent were able to back up their conclusion with data.
Officials with the National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees the NAEP, were concerned U.S. students struggled with more difficult problem-solving.
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