The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has closed its six-month-old investigation into a cyber attack during Florida Standards Assessments testing this spring. The agency isn’t saying who tried to shut down testing by overloading servers, or why. But law enforcement officials said no personal student data was accessed during the attack. FDLE said they found […]
Yesterday school districts across the state had to suspend the state writing test. It was the first day Florida schools attempted to use the Florida Standards Assessments. This morning, Education Commissioner Pam Stewart sent an email to school superintendents explaining what happened. The problem, she says, was with test firm American Institutes for Research. Here’s […]
Editor’s note: This story has been updated. School districts across the state said students had trouble logging in to the state’s new writing exam Monday. And the test is running slowly for many who do manage to sign in. Miami-Dade schools said they’re suspending all online testing for 8th through 10th graders until the state […]
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 […]
Ocoee High School just west of Orlando opened less than a decade ago. But technology-wise, the 2,300-student school is already obsolete. Ocoee is part of $14 million project to outfit seven Orange County schools with fast, wireless Internet and new classroom technology. The first step was ripping out and replacing miles of fiber optic cable […]
The percentage of Florida third graders passing the state’s FCAT math and reading exams did not improve this year — remaining largely flat for the past three years — according to initial test results released Friday. Fifty-seven percent of third graders scored at least a 3, the state’s passing score, on the reading test. On […]
Hackers stole employee data earlier this month from the American Institutes for Research, the company chosen to produce Florida’s next standardized test. No student information was stolen, according to Education Week. But, the hackers got Social Security numbers and credit card information for about 6,500 current and former employees. From the story: “The breach only […]
House and Senate leaders are divided over whether students who receive a tax credit scholarship to attend a private school should have to take the state’s standardized test. The dispute — the Senate wants the requirement, the House does not — has threatened to derail a bill which would expand eligibility for the private school […]
Having enough high-speed Internet and computers are problems as Florida school districts transition to online testing tied to new math and language arts standards. But testing rules have made classroom space and logistics a challenge as well. Pensacola News Journal reporter Michael Scott Davidson outlines some of the issues in Santa Rosa County schools: Wyrosdick […]
The final bell begins tolling today for the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. Florida schools are scheduled to complete the switch to new K-12 math and language arts standards based on Common Core this fall. New standards will require a new test. So Florida is switching to math and language arts exams produced by the American […]
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