Florida School Boards Association
Florida should inject “common sense” into its school testing system by scrapping some required state exams and providing “stressed out” teachers and students the relief they need, a bipartisan group of state senators said today. Read More
A three-judge panel has overturned Leon County judge Karen Gievers’ ruling that the Hernando County school district improperly retained some third-grade students who refused to take the Florida Standards Assessment language arts test. Read More
The testing wars have returned to the Florida Capitol. Two years after widespread computer problems undermined confidence in the state’s new standardized tests and sparked a political firestorm, lawmakers are once again floating ideas to reduce high-stakes exams in Florida schools. Read More
In just a couple of weeks, Florida K-12 schools will begin the annual grueling three-month stretch of administering mandatory statewide student assessments. But next year, those tests might not happen until the end of the school year, if lawmakers pass a proposal this spring to reform Florida’s lengthy testing schedule. Read More
The 1st District Court of Appeal is considering a case that will determine several school boards’ obligations to students who wish to opt out of standardized tests. According to a Feb. 9 report by the News Service of Florida on TheLedger.com, parents of students who had been denied promotion to the fourth grade for their failure…
Key Florida senators will push sweeping legislation this spring that aims to cut the number of standardized exams students take and lessen the impact testing has on public schools. These members want a “return to sanity,” said Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, who is spearheading the effort. Read More
Two years have passed since Florida lawmakers acknowledged, under mounting pressure from parents and teachers, that public school children might be overtested. The Legislature took steps to limit testing hours and eliminate some exams, amid criticism over a botched spring computerized assessment cycle. Read More
The controversial “Best and Brightest” bonus program for Florida teachers could be headed for changes in the upcoming legislative session, though the dimensions of those revisions are still murky. Read More
Florida ranked 29th and earned a grade of C on an annual report on education quality in the United States released today. The report ranked and graded all 50 states. The Sunshine State’s showing was slightly better this year than last — when it was ranked as 30th in the nation– but put it about where its…
Influential state Sen. David Simmons is wasting no time in his effort to improve Florida’s public school testing model. Simmons has dedicated his PreK-12 Appropriation Subcommittee’s entire second session to a discussion on assessments, and how to streamline the time and money spent on them. Read More