Advocacy groups promote changes to Florida’s laws on English language learners

Hoping to strike while interest remains high, groups advocating on behalf of Florida’s English language learners have begun circulating proposed changes to state law governing these children’s education. The organizations have begun working with South Florida lawmakers, whose constituencies include large numbers of non-English speakers, to promote rules they say would more fairly account for…

Florida’s ELL testing policy should apply to all students, researcher suggests

Florida government leaders have challenged federal rules regarding when to count the test scores of children still learning English. It’s not fair to include their results in school grading measures, the officials argue, before the students are ready. Matt DiCarlo of the Albert Shanker Institute, who closely monitors Florida’s accountability system, contends that if the…

Kathleen Oropeza: Legislature responsible for abusive testing policies

The politics of extreme ideology has turned Florida public education into a testing factory. Unwilling to accept any responsibility for hyper-testing, politicians and reformers blame school districts. A prominent education reformer recently told the press, “They really need to look inward,” insinuating that districts are the reason for too many tests. If our school districts…

School Board asks state to delay consequences of standardized tests

The Alachua County School Board has joined the list of Florida school districts calling for action from the state to suspend the consequences of state standardized tests in favor of an extended transition time for students and teachers to adjust to new educational standards. A resolution, approved by all four board members present at Tuesday’s…