Florida

Putting Education Reform To The Test

Bush: Florida Standards “Not Substantially Different” From Common Core

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Gov. Rick Scott at a campaign stop in Homestead.

John O'Connor / StateImpact Florida

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Gov. Rick Scott at a campaign stop in Homestead.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush hit the campaign trail with current Gov. Rick Scott on Friday.

Bush has been one of the nation’s most prominent supporters of the Common Core math and language arts standards adopted by dozens of states, including Florida.

Scott? Not so much.

After initially supporting the standards, Scott withdrew support for the federally-funded exams designed by multi-state coalitions. Last fall, under pressure from conservative and liberal Common Core critics, Scott asked the state Department of Education to hold public meetings and tweak the standards.

Eventually, the state added calculus, tweaked a few other things and renamed them the Florida Standards. But, the changes left Common Core largely untouched.

Scott now says Common Core is out of Florida.

So how does that jibe with Bush’s support of Scott?

As he has in the past, Bush said Friday he supports the alterations. But Bush conceded not much changed about the standards besides the name.

“They’re not substantially different, but they’re Florida-based,” Bush said, “after listening to a whole lot of people express concerns and support.

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Take An Audio Tour Of Florida’s Newest University

The distinctive facade of the main building on Florida Polytechnic's campus.

Steve Newborn / WUSF

The distinctive facade of the main building on Florida Polytechnic's campus.

Florida’s 12th university, Florida Polytechnic University, is an architectural marvel that sits right next to Interstate 4 in Polk County.

The main building features a swooping veil-like facade designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.

The public can get a peek of the new campus when it opens on Saturday. But WUSF reporter Steve Newborn took a tour with university spokesman Crystal Lauderdale to talk about the features and Calatrava’s intent.

“It was designed to inspire innovation,” Lauderdale said of the design, which she said people have described as looking like a spaceship, a fountain, or less impressively, a football.

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A Q & A With The President Of Florida’s Newest University

A model of the future Florida Polytechnic campus.

John O'Connor / StateImpact Florida

A model of the future Florida Polytechnic campus.

This coming Saturday marks the grand opening for Florida’s 12th state university. Florida Polytechnic University, in Polk County, will offer a tuition-free education focused on science, technology, engineering and math — STEM — to its inaugural class of about 550 students. They start on August 25th.

President Randy Avent sat down with Robin Sussingham from WUSF in Tampa to talk about his vision for the new university.

Q: This is not a Silicon Valley, this is not a Research Triangle, this is a rural Polk County location. So how is that going to affect this university? How’s it going to affect your job? Is it going to make recruiting more difficult? Tell me about how this fits in?

A: It will make recruiting more difficult, but it’s an opportunity. We like to use this a catalyst to really develop that [Interstate]-4 corridor, high-tech corridor that everyone talks about. You know, we’re geographically located halfway between Tampa and [the University of South Florida] and Orlando and [the University of Central Florida] – both of them great institutions. And so the question is how can we bridge the gap between those two institutions and help create that mission and create that corridor

Q: I read an article  about you recently and he said “Dr. Avent sees the future of university research as less curiosity-driven and more focused on solving real-world problems.” Tell me what that means?

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Crist Wants To Pause Penalties During Switch To Common Core-Based Standards

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist says he wants to pause penalties for teachers and schools while Florida transitions to Common Core-based standards and a new online exam.

John O'Connor / StateImpact Florida

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist says he wants to pause penalties for teachers and schools while Florida transitions to Common Core-based standards and a new online exam.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist said he would pause any penalties for students, teachers and schools while the state transitions to new Common Core-based math and language arts standards and a new online test.

Florida school leaders have asked for a three-year pause while teachers get comfortable with the new standards and students adjust to what is expected to be more challenging class work and state exams. States which are already using Common Core-tied exams saw the percentage of students passing the exams decline by about 30 points the first year the tests were used.

Florida schools are rated based, in part, on student test scores. Schools which earn a low grade can have their leadership and staff replaced or even be closed. Teachers will also be evaluated and paid based, in part, on those new test results.

“They’re unfair,” Crist said of why he supports pausing the penalties. “They don’t even know what test they’re going to use now. It’s a disaster. We need to change and we need help.”

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Study Finds Family More Important Than Education For Success

The rooftops of Baltimore. Johns Hopkins University researchers followed 800 Baltimore kids in a 30-year study.

3sonsproductions / Flickr

The rooftops of Baltimore. Johns Hopkins University researchers followed 800 Baltimore kids in a 30-year study.

Family and wealth — and not education — are the most important factors in whether a child succeeds in life according to 30-year study by researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

Children whose parents were married and working ended up better off than peers in poor or single-parent homes.

Just 33 of the nearly 800 people included in the study went from being considered low-income to considered high-income.

NPR profiled two people included in the study, and you can listen to the story below.

Where Should Programming Fit Into Florida School Requirements?

Students at the CodeNow workshop in Miami learned to program simple games, such as asking users to quickly match words and colors.

John O'Connor / StateImpact Florida

Students at the CodeNow workshop in Miami learned to program simple games, such as asking users to quickly match words and colors.

Lots of people think teaching students computer programming is a good idea. But where coding fits in schools is a difficult question.

Is it a science? A language? Career training?

Florida lawmakers proposed, but did not approve, letting students substitute coding for foreign language or physical education courses required for a high school diploma. The idea is also tucked into the education plan of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist.

Students can use computer science or programming to replace a math or science requirement, but not for math courses higher than Algebra 1, nor science courses such as biology, chemistry or physics.

So where does programming fit? And does it squeeze out other subjects?

“It’s a really interesting debate,” said Ryan Seashore, founder of CodeNow, a group which holds coding camps in Miami and other cities. “You can look at whether it’s a science, whether it’s a foreign language or whether it’s like an elective. But for me, it’s however we can get it into schools. Wherever it fits. Wherever you have the talent. All that matters is getting it in front of these kids.”

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Why Taking More Breaks Can Help Students Get More Done

Set a goal. Work hard. Then, take a short break to recharge.

That’s the thinking behind the Pomodoro Technique, a time management method used by and deadline-driven professionals, including coders, developers and the organizers of the CodeNow camp we attended in Miami.

The Pomodoro Technique was created by programmer and consultant Francesco Cirillo in the 1980s to improve his study habits. It has since caught on with creative professionals, especially in the tech industry.

Pomodoro got its name from the tomato-shaped kitchen timer Cirillo used to mark time. Each 25-minute period is known as a Pomodoro.

The strategy is to break big tasks down into a series of smaller tasks. You work in a focused 25-minute burst until the task is done and then you take a short break. After the break, you start on another task and complete it in the next 25-minute period. Continue Reading

Computer Programming Camp Offers Lesson In Logic

Ryan Seashore starts off every CodeNow workshop with a simple request — write out step-by-step instructions for making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

A CodeNow teacher pretends to be a robot, and follows the students’ orders exactly as they’re written.

Students quickly find that asking a computer to perform an everyday task isn’t so easy.

CodeNow's Kareem Grant works with students during a June coding camp in Miami. Grant likes that coding requires disciplined thinking.

John O'Connor / StateImpact Florida

CodeNow's Kareem Grant works with students during a June coding camp in Miami. Grant likes that coding requires disciplined thinking.

“They basically follow every instruction,” said Seashore, who founded CodeNow. “And so if it’s ‘Hey, take out bread from a bag,’ they will tear the bag of bread open. If it’s like ‘Spread the peanut butter’ and they didn’t say ‘Hey, twist the lid off’ it’ll spread the jar on it.

“This is a really amazing exercise because it teaches students the importance of logic.”

The lesson: Good programming starts with organized, disciplined thinking. And one mistake can cause everything to crash.

Coding is a hot subject right now in Florida schools. Florida lawmakers allowed students to substitute computer programming for a math or science high school graduation requirement.

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How The Algebra Project Helps Math Make Sense

Sara Weinberg talks Miami Northwestern High School students through an Algebra Project assignment.

John O'Connor / StateImpact Florida

Sara Weinberg talks Miami Northwestern High School students through an Algebra Project assignment.

“This idea is to learn a language you have to talk it…you have to engage in it.”

That’s how Algebra Project founder Bob Moses described the principle underlying the program. Math is a language. And like any language, teachers need to help students translate the language into terms they understand.

But like the students learning algebra, it’s difficult to understand the process Moses described without watching students in action. So we sat in last week as the Algebra Project wrapped up orientation for its third group of students at Miami Northwestern High School.

“You can break down math into how you understand,” teacher Sara Weinberg told a group of students tentatively chatting about an assignment. “Break it into your language.”

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A Q & A With Activist And Algebra Project Founder Bob Moses

Algebra Project founder Bob Moses.

miller_center / Flickr

Algebra Project founder Bob Moses.

Fifty years ago Bob Moses organized volunteers to register voters in Mississippi during the Freedom Summer.

And for decades, Moses has been fighting for civil rights as an educator.

He’s won a MacArthur Genius Grant to develop a new way to teach algebra in largely low-income and minority schools.

The Algebra Project shows students how to translate mathematics into common language and back — to simplify algebra.

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