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 […]
Education Commissioner Pam Stewart says she is largely meeting goals leading Florida schools. The State Department of Education posted Stewart’s self-evaluation of her performance Thursday. The State Board of Education is scheduled to discuss Stewart’s evaluation at a meeting next week. Stewart says she has met the top three goals set out for her by […]
A former dean at Miami Dade College has been selected to lead the Florida College System. Florida Education Commissioner Pam Stewart chose Madeline Pumariega to be chancellor of the state’s system of community colleges. Pumariega worked for more than a decade at Miami Dade College, including serving as Dean of Students at the Wolfson Campus. […]
The chairman of the Senate Education committee says lawmakers aren’t interested in cancelling the six-year, $220 million contract with Florida new statewide test provider despite multiple problems with the new exams already. Twice this year contractor American Institutes for Research made changes to their system which prevented students and administrators from accessing the exam. Some […]
Testing experts say the problems Florida’s has had with its new statewide exam so far are likely not serious enough for the state to consider throwing out this year’s test scores on the Florida Standards Assessments. Earlier this month a software problem meant students had trouble logging onto the writing exam for several days, and […]
Last week, dozens of Florida school districts had to postpone state testing because of problems with the new Florida Standards Assessments. Students couldn’t log in to the online writing exam — and some who did were booted out and temporarily lost their answers. The problems seem to have been resolved Thursday. By Friday, more than […]
This week Florida students are taking the new Florida Standards Assessments writing test for the first time. The test is online for students in 8th through 10th grade, which has led some to wonder whether it’s fair to ask students to type the exam rather than write by hand? Lawmakers asked Education Commissioner Pam Stewart […]
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 […]
Education Commissioner Pam Stewart has recommended eliminating a high school exam, making another optional and asking state lawmakers and local school districts to cut back on the amount of testing. Stewart’s recommendations are the conclusion of a statewide review of standardized testing requested by Gov. Rick Scott. “There is, without a doubt, an excess of […]
Education Commissioner Pam Stewart says students can not skip state-required tests, and teachers and schools can be punished for refusing to administer required exams. Stewart’s letter is a response to questions from Senators as they prepare for the upcoming legislative session. Senators wanted to know if students could opt out of state-required exams and how […]
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