Florida School Boards Association
Students in grades 4 to 7 will take Florida’s new standardized writing test using old-fashioned paper and pencil to quell educators’ fears that younger students don’t have the typing skills needed to take an online writing exam. Education Commissioner Pam Stewart said Tuesday the state will revisit the issue next year, before deciding whether the…
uring his recent campaign for re-election, Gov. Rick Scott called for a “thorough investigation” of standardized testing in Florida’s public schools. “That work has begun,” Education Commissioner Pam Stewart said this morning at the State Board of Education meeting in Seminole County. The Florida Department of Education, Stewart said, has begun the review that Scott,…
“In some places, tests — and preparation for them — are dominating the calendar and culture of schools and causing undue stress for students and educators.” The quote comes not from an angry parent or firebrand school leader but from Education Secretary Arne Duncan. Of course, he’s the guy currently in charge of a big…
Apparently, the new buzz word in education is customization. Jeb Bush used it the other day. So did state Sen. John Legg, who was the education committee chairman the past two years. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio wrote about customization, and so did Patricia Levesque, CEO of Foundation for Excellence in Education. It is part of…
Technology is here to stay. The question, state Sen. John Legg says, is how to make it work best for students and teachers in Florida’s classrooms. Hoping to amp up the conversation, Legg brought together close to 300 education and technology leaders on Thursday for a half-day symposium all about the issue. “Unfortunately, when many…
Title VI compliance from U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights: http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-resourcecomp-201410.pdf The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) at U.S. Department of Education issued the Dear Colleague letter on Title VI compliance with regard to equal opportunity and equitable resources in school districts. In other years, this has been a typically uneventful federal review…
The Florida School Boards Association’s legislative committee has crafted and approved a two-page list of priorities for the 2015 session, and perhaps it comes as no surprise that testing and accountability reform tops the list. The platform, which goes to the general membership for ratification in December, calls for a delay in the consequences associated…
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, Governor Rick Scott recognized six educators who formerly served in various branches of the military with the Governor’s Shine Award for their service to our country and their contributions to Florida’s students. The Governor’s Shine Award is presented to Floridians who have positively impacted children through education. Governor Scott said, “It…
School districts aren’t the only ones raising concerns about a plan to standardize charter school contracts in Florida. Some charter school representatives have indicated they have concerns about the proposal, which is set to be taken up next week by the state Board of Education, and might consider challenging a state rule creating a standard contract…
Florida school boards are questioning the constitutionality of standard charter school contracts as the state Board of Education gets set to vote on rules creating them. Their objections appear in hundreds of pages of recent comments and letters to the state Department of Education. The Florida School Boards Association wrote in July: “We view this as an…