Lake County School Board members and district officials are troubled by a new Florida Department of Education grading formula that changes year to year and randomly moves the achievement bar so no one has a clear understanding of the expectations of the state. Read full article
FSBA #FridayFive – 5 Things You Should Know Each week, Executive Director, Andrea Messina, compiles a top 5 list of news stories that School Board Members should know about: Website Development School To Open In Wyoming More states sue over transgender bathroom directive Florida parents crowd funding fight against third grade retention What’s good in public…
Annual school grades were just part of the latest data released Friday by the Florida Department of Education Less noticed, but also with their own impact, school districts grades came out, along with the list of lowest performing elementary schools. Those schools have to offer an extra hour of daily reading instruction. More than half…
TAMPA — Statewide scores on the Florida Standards Assessment showed modest gains this year, the Florida Department of Education said Friday as it released a large batch of results. Closer to home, there were gains and losses in the Tampa Bay area. Pinellas math scores were up. Hillsborough students dropped a bit in English. And…
TALLAHASSEE — Throughout Florida, parents of third graders who refused to take state exams are consulting attorneys about their legal options for fighting school districts’ plans to hold back their children. Florida law prohibits third graders who fail state reading tests from being promoted to the fourth grade, unless they are granted a “good cause”…
In their proposed rules on school accountability, federal officials are attempting to walk a fine and aggressively scrutinized line. They say they’ve tried to offer the meaningful flexibility to states and districts under the Every Student Succeeds Act that many say the law requires, while answering the call to make sure that all students are…
The U.S. Department of Education has released a draft version of accountability regulations for the Every Student Succeeds Act that would require “comprehensive, summative” ratings for schools, but would not dictate or encourage states to set any particular weight, or a range of weights, for individual accountability measures. The proposed regulations, released Thursday, would also clarify…
At the end of the day Friday, Florida students will have completed the 2016 state testing season. “We hold our breath through the entire situation,” education commissioner Pam Stewart told the State Board of Education. But “this year’s test administration has been very successful.” Last spring, the Florida Standards Assessments and other state exams were…
Educators have long complained that state accountability systems that use only test scores and graduation rates to rank or grade schools oversimplify school success, confuse parents, and mask achievement gaps. Now, education leaders and lawmakers in states including California and Kentucky have said they want to toss one-size-fits-all school rankings and give the public information…
Last December, Congress passed a new federal education law called the Every Student Succeeds Act, replacing No Child Left Behind. With it will come new rules for states to follow regarding standardized testing for “accountability” purposes. Negotiators have agreed on draft rules, which will soon be released so the public can comment before the rules…