Florida School Boards Association
It’s that time of the year again — students statewide will sit for the Florida Standards Assessment test at the end of the month, and the Florida Department of Education is working to ensure this year’s tests go off without a hitch. Beginning Feb. 29, students from grades 4-7 will sit down for the FSA…
Remember the first time Florida issued school grades? It was back in the late 1990s, and they came across as a novel way to quickly show whether a school was performing well or badly. The state based the A-through-F marks on simple performance, and handed out money to schools that had top results. The concept…
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Florida is finally releasing school grades based on tests given nearly a year ago. The Florida Department of Education on Friday issued grades for schools that are linked to the state’s new high-stakes test. The Florida Standards Assessment is based primarily on Common Core standards. The preliminary grades given out for…
The newest Florida school grading formula became official on Tuesday, and state education officials indicated that 2015 school grades based on the formula would follow soon after. Many people expected the results, which will look much like a simulation released in December, on Tuesday concurrent with the new rule taking effect. Thursday morning, however, found school district officials…
A plan to let Florida school districts and parents choose alternative tests in lieu of the controversial statewide assessments cleared its first Senate committee on Wednesday with strong bipartisan support. But the state’s top education official has voiced resistance to the idea, its chances appear bleak at getting heard in the Florida House and critics who oppose Common Core standards and high-stakes…
Amid heated debate over what Florida Standards Assessment levels mean, the Florida Department of Education has offered up a revamped student score report. It aims to make more clear exactly what a Level 1 through Level 5 mark represents, commissioner Pam Stewart told State Board of Education members Wednesday. “It’s not just a number,” Stewart said,…
An issue that has bedeviled dozens of counties across Florida — including Miami-Dade and Broward — returns to the spotlight this legislative session thanks to a Clearwater senator who has filed a bill that would fix a shamefully inequitable state mandate. In 2004, the Florida Legislature forced 38 counties to pay a portion of the…
With two votes Wednesday, the State Board of Education put to bed a lengthy, heated debate over how difficult Florida’s student testing and school grading formulas should be. Board members made it harder to get a passing score on the tests, and easier for a school to earn an A, just weeks before students begin…
TALLAHASSEE — Although Florida lawmakers don’t plan to revamp the beleaguered Florida Standards Assessments this session, they’re likely to consider a related proposal to let students take other standardized tests — like the ACT or SAT — instead. State Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, this week filed a highly anticipated plan to let students make use…
The state Board of Education, which for years has pushed to toughen standards for Florida students, voted Wednesday to compromise on test scores and school grades while the state continues to wrestle with its newly revised accountability system. The board adopted Education Commissioner Pam Stewart’s recommendations for scores that would see more than half of…