Florida school districts will have a new way to track the financial and academic records of charter school operators. For the first time, a new database is connecting charter schools to who runs them. The goal is to reduce the number of charter schools that close. The National Association of Charter School Authorizers wants to […]
Florida’s earned a C grade and ranked 28th overall on this year’s Education Week Quality Counts ratings. Education Week gave the state strong scores for equity in student achievement. Test results show minority students generally perform better in Florida than other states, and the gap between white and minority student scores is smaller in Florida […]
Education leaders gathered in Orlando today for a summit sponsored by the Florida Sterling Council, a not-for-profit corporation supported by the Executive Office of the Governor. The summit covered a wide range of issues facing schools and universities. Pinellas Superintendent Mike Grego laid out his plan to move the district forward as the state transitions […]
The finance professor who found Florida charter schools are not on a par with traditional schools is back with more research. Dr. Stanley Smith with the University of Central Florida analyzed the high school grades that were released last month. Like last time, he looked at the effect of poverty and minority status on a […]
A University of Central Florida business professor and the Florida Department of Education have been swapping research the past week in a debate about whether charter schools perform better than district schools. UCF professor Stanley Smith opened the debate with his analysis of student achievement at traditional and charter schools. His general assessment is that […]
Florida has been holding back third graders who fail the state reading exam since 2003. Now Colorado, Iowa, New Mexico and Tennessee are trying to mirror Florida’s policy, according to The Wall Street Journal. But is Florida’s policy a good one? Jaryn Emhof, with the Foundation for Florida’s Future said third grade is the most important […]
Torres is a reporter for the Florida Center on Investigative Reporting. Since the economy collapsed in 2008, Florida’s student population has become poorer each year — with almost all school districts in the state experiencing spikes in the number of kids who qualify for subsidized meals. Children have become homeless at alarming numbers as well. […]
A Hechinger Report story asks an important question: What happens to students when a charter school closes? The story looks at Akron’s Lighthouse Academy, which is being shut down due to low state standardized test scores. Some parents had vowed to never send their children to district schools, but now make have to do so. […]
The Sunshine State ranks 3rd in the country for having some of the best charter school laws, according to a study by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS). Each of the 42 states with charter school laws are scored on how well their laws support charter school growth, accountability and quality. Actual school performance isn’t a factor in the NAPCS […]
The state has fewer “F” schools and more “A” and “B” schools, according to new high school grades released by the state. The Florida Department of Education said, “Based on the results… school recognition funds will be determined and will reward schools that have sustained high student performance or demonstrated substantial improvement in student performance.” The “A” […]
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