Florida ranks seventh in the country for the number of foreign students enrolled in state colleges and universities.
Saudi Arabia and South Korea are among the top 5 leading places of origin for international college and university students in Florida.
That’s according to the Institute for International Education, which released its Open Doors fact sheet today.
It reports that during the 2011-12 school year, 32,567 students from other countries enrolled for the first time in a Florida college or university —Â a 9.6 percent increase from the year before.
Florida ranks seventh in the country for the number of foreign college students. California ranks first.
Leading places of origin for foreign college students in the state:
Diana Viart (5th grade), Leiny Otero (6th grade) and Estafania Lucero (5th grade) take notes during an interview outside of a precinct.
Miami-Dade students were working hard on Election Day.
Students who are part of the Breakthrough Miami summer and after school program visited precinct 538 — because it’s walking distance from their campus, Ransom Everglades School.
They surveyed voters and processed the data themselves for a math exercise in percentages and graphing.
You know we’re suckers for data, and we love that young Florida students were getting into the spirit of the elections.
Here are their results — in the form of graphs they made — from 64 exit poll surveys at precinct 538.
Miami-Dade teachers are hoping to bump the starting salary to $40,000.
Miami-Dade teachers are one step closer to a pay raise.
The President of the teachers union, Karen Aronowitz, and her 28 member bargaining team signed off today on a tentative agreement that would provide salary increases while maintaining health care for teachers and education support professionals.
“Today we reached a contractual agreement with the district that moves us forward,” Aronowitz said.
Highlights of the Agreement:
Salary
One step increase on the salary matrix for eligible teachers
$40,000 starting salary for teachers
$1,000 salary improvement at the top of the salary schedule making the top step worth $69,225 Continue Reading →
The program honors public and private schools in one of two performance categories:
“Exemplary High Performing” is for schools that are among their state’s highest performers, as measured by state assessments or national tests.
“Exemplary Improving” recognizes schools with at least 40 percent of their students from disadvantaged backgrounds who demonstrate the most progress in improving student achievement levels.
“Achieving the level of excellence set by the Blue Ribbon Schools Awards is no easy task,” Commissioner of Education Pam Stewart said. “These schools are a model for others to follow, creating classrooms designed for student success.”
In Florida, the award winners were all selected in the Exemplary High Performing Schools category:
West Melbourne Elementary School for Science, Brevard County
West Shore Junior/Senior High School, Brevard County
A performance based funding system would bring more money to Florida colleges and universities with the highest graduation rates.
What will a performance funding system for Florida’s post-secondary institutions look like?
State University System Chancellor Frank Brogan defines it as “awarding money to institutions based on performance in key measures of student success.”
The Florida Board of Governors (BOG) is meeting today at New College of Florida in Sarasota and discussing the idea.
BOG Vice Chairman Mori Hosseini said a performance funding system should include a measure of students who graduate in a reasonable period of time.
“How many of our kids come to university that should not be in university; that after six years, they don’t graduate and they leave with $21,000 average in debt? That’s devastating to a family,” Hosseini said.
A screenshot of the Justice for Jennifer Caballero Facebook page. Protestors are asking for the resignation of the Hillsborough schools superintendent and school board chairman.
A group of parents is asking for the resignation of Hillsborough schools superintendent MaryEllen Elia and school board member Candy Olson following the deaths of two special needs students.
A protest is planned for 4 p.m. today at the school board meeting.
Herrera had a neuromuscular disorder and had trouble breathing while riding a school bus. She was unresponsive by the time she got to a hospital and died the next day.
Dr. Dale Brill chairs the Higher Education Task Force. Members have come up with a list of recommendations for Gov. Rick Scott and the BOG.
The Florida Board of Governors (BOG) is starting two days of meetings at New College of Florida in Sarasota.
Among the agenda highlights: recommendations by the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Task Force on State Higher Education Reform and an appearance by Gov. Rick Scott.
Scott created the task force last May to review and make recommendations regarding operation of the State University System.
Their final report is due to the governor this week.
Democratic challenger Glenda Ritz upset Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett in Indiana. The election was seen as a national referendum on education reform, particularly policies pushed by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
With Bush’s help, Bennett convinced the Indiana legislature to pass laws enacting an A through F report card style grading system. It requires teachers are evaluated using student test scores, and that third graders be held back if they can not pass a reading test and expanding school choice.
Your roundup of education-related election results is here.
Florida voters rejected a handful of constitutional changes opposed by The Florida School Boards Association and other education groups, including measures that would limit state spending and allow public funding for religious groups.
Voters also approved most of the school funding measures on ballots around the state, the biggest being a $1.2 billion bond for maintenance and construction in Miami-Dade schools.
And two teachers were elected to the Florida House of Representatives.
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