UPDATE: Education Commissioner Pam Stewart has sent a letter to Pearson saying she expects “a resolution and explanation for this immediately.” “This failure is inexcusable,” Stewart wrote. “Florida’s students and teachers work too hard on learning to be distracted by these needless and avoidable technological issues.” Read Stewart’s letter below. Original post: Schools are suspending […]
Last week Gov. Rick Scott delivered an $8.5 million check to Hillsborough County schools earning good marks on the state’s grading formula. Those grades depend a lot on student FCAT scores. So Hillsborough Superintendent MaryEllen Elia took a moment pump up students at West Tampa’s Graham Elementary School before this week’s testing. “Next week you’re […]
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 […]
The 2014 Florida legislative session reached the halfway point last week, so we thought we’d check in on some of the big education bills. The Budget The House, Senate and Gov. Rick Scott mostly agree on education spending based on their proposed budgets. Both the House and the Senate approved roughly $75 billion budgets last […]
The civil disobedience taking place during New York’s statewide testing season may offer a preview of what’s to come when Florida unveils new Common Core-tied tests next year. This is the second year New York has used a home-grown test to assess its Common Core standards. The protests started last year and seem to be […]
Florida’s plans to add computerized grading of its new statewide writing test could eventually eliminate the need for a writing test, advocates for the technology said. Essays on Florida’s new writing test will be scored by a human and a computer, but the computer score will only matter if the score is significantly different from […]
A computer program will grade student essays on the writing portion of the standardized test set to replace the FCAT, according to bid documents released by the Florida Department of Education. The essays will be scored by a human and a computer, but the computer score will only matter if the score is significantly different […]
Florida schools will be giving a new standardized test about a year from now. But which test is still up in the air until Education Commissioner Pam Stewart announces her choice later this month. A new test is needed because Florida schools will complete the transition to new math and language arts standards in every […]
Florida Education Commissioner Pam Stewart is expected to recommend a test to (mostly) replace the FCAT this month. A new test is needed because Florida is finishing the switch to new K-12 math, language arts and literacy standards this fall. The standards are largely based on Common Core standards fully adopted by 44 other states […]
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