The Florida Board of Education on Friday backed a budget plan that would eliminate funding for the state’s controversial two-year-old Best and Brightest bonus, which rewards teachers based on their job evaluations and their SAT or ACT scores. Read full article
One hour. For 311 Florida elementary schools, that’s the length of time they’ve been told to extend their day this year, just to focus on reading. It could be the fix that lifts them off the list of lowest performing schools on the state’s language arts test. Or not. Read full article
Education Week is reporting that former Florida education commissioner Gerard Robinson, who resigned his post under pressure after just one year, will lead Donald Trump’s education transition team. Read full article
A Leon County circuit court judge has come down in favor of families challenging Florida’s third-grade retention practices, ruling that school districts ignored the children’s right to alternative forms of promotion and the state Department of Education allowed that to happen. In her order, Judge Karen Gievers highly criticized the Hernando County school district for…
FSBA #FridayFive – 5 Things You Should Know Each week, FSBA Executive Director, Andrea Messina compiles 5 Things You Should Know from education news. US judge blocks White House’s transgender school bathroom policy The best places for children in 2016 Unaccompanied Minors In The US Experience Problems Getting An Education Education NEXT 2016 Education poll…
A state judge is weighing a decision that could shake Florida’s education-accountability system following a marathon hearing Monday in Tallahassee. After nearly nine hours of testimony and arguments, Leon County Circuit Judge Karen Gievers wrapped up a hearing on state and local policies for allowing students to move to the fourth grade but did not rule…
The testing company that administers Florida’s key standardized exam has lost nearly $5 million because of problems that marred the roll out of the computer-based tests in 2015, the Florida Department of Education said Friday. The department said American Institutes for Research, or AIR, will reimburse the state or lose payments that total $4.8 million.…
A U.S. District judge has moved to set a Friday hearing to consider whether the lawsuit challenging the state’s third-grade retention policies should be decided by a federal court, a new twist in an evolving legal fight over Florida’s standardized testing system. Read full article
5 Things You Should Know FSBA #FridayFive – Week of August 15, 2016 Opt out case may be headed to Federal Court Education Inequality “Worse Than Statistics Show.” IDEA applies to online schools too Nationwide bullying report Florida’s average salary compared to rest of US
When they first arrive in the country, children who don’t speak English aren’t required to take the usual battery of Florida’s standardized tests. Rather, they sit for assessments to gauge their English proficiency after time spent learning the language. Read full article