Florida’s graduation rate increased by five percentage points between the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 school years, according to new U.S. Department of Education graduation rate data released today. But despite the improving rate, just six states and the District of Columbia have a lower graduation rate than Florida —the same number as last year. The bright […]
More than half of Florida’s Hispanic and black students at state universities currently eligible for the state’s Bright Futures college scholarship would no longer qualify when new standards take effect on July 1, according to a University of South Florida analysis obtained by the Florida College Access Network. By comparison, about 40 percent of white […]
While charter schools are an increasingly popular option for Florida students, a University of Central Florida researcher says they don’t perform as well as district schools. Dr. Stanley Smith, a professor at the University of Central Florida’s business school, analyzed school grades of Florida elementary schools last summer, examining the effect of poverty and minority […]
The Florida PTA is asking the State Board of Education to reconsider a five-year plan which sets different achievement goals by race. The new goals have drawn criticism from local school officials, who argue they set a lower bar for black and Hispanic students. State officials say the race-based goals are required for Florida’s waiver […]
Duval County school board members are complaining about a state plan which sets differing academic targets by race, despite approving a similar plan in August the Florida Times-Union reports. Duval County school board member Tommy Hazouri said the local plan targets were informational and not part of the district’s strategic plan. Other board members said […]
The State Board of Education is taking criticism for a new five-year plan which local school officials say sets lower goals for blacks, Hispanics and other groups than for white or Asian students. But the plan also asks for more improvement from those same black and Hispanic students than their higher-performing classmates, something supporters say […]
Sixteen Florida colleges are among the top 100 producers of associate degrees in the country, according to a Community College Week report. University of Phoenix Online Campus was the top producer with 33,449 associates degrees awarded last school year. The online campus also came in first for graduating minority students. Online school aside, Miami-Dade College in Florida […]
Florida charter schools are a $400 million business operating with little oversight whose business interests occasionally conflict with their educational mission, according to the first story in a Miami Herald three-part investigation published Sunday. The story boils the issues down to these:
A new book is making a claim against a college admissions staple: the SATs. “SAT Wars” author Joseph Soares says SAT scores are weak predictors of college performance. And he argues the high stakes test tends to cater to white, male students with upper income backgrounds, according to the New York Times. His book points to […]
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