Florida School Boards Association
UPDATE: The DOE told districts at 10:44 a.m.: “Pearson has confirmed that the issue with PearsonAccess has been resolved and the site is now up and running normally. Please share this information with users in your district and contact our office if you have further questions.” ORIGINAL POST: The Florida Department of Education advised school…
For years, Florida middle and high school students who did poorly on state math and reading tests had to take remedial classes in those subjects the next academic year. It was a law that frustrated many teenagers, educators and parents. Now, it’s gone. The testing law Gov. Rick Scott signed last month (HB 7069) got…
Florida lawmakers’ decision to end mandatory final exams for every class will mean that more teachers’ performance will be judged on subjects they don’t teach. Concerned about the amount of testing in schools — and pressured by activists and educators — this year lawmakers rescinded a state law that requires school districts to have a…
The chairman of the Senate Education committee says lawmakers aren’t interested in cancelling the six-year, $220 million contract with Florida new statewide test provider despite multiple problems with the new exams already. Twice this year contractor American Institutes for Research made changes to their system which prevented students and administrators from accessing the exam. Some…
The passage of HB 7069 into law changed the rules for evaluating Florida students and teachers. Exactly how has been the subject of much debate. There’s been a healthy back and forth, for instance, over whether the Legislature’s action gave school districts more flexibility on retaining third graders who score at the lowest levels of…
Going into the 2015 Florida legislative session, Senate Education Committee chairman John Legg said only one school-related bill mattered: Changes to the state’s testing system. In the end, that’s all lawmakers could manage to accomplish before the House abruptly ended session three days early over budget disagreements. HB 7069 is one of just nine bills…
Hearing complaints that state tests carry too many consequences, the Hechinger Reportreviewed the stakes attached to Common Core-associated exams in 44 states and the District of Columbia. Its question was, essentially, how will each state use its test scores? “We found that very few states will be using this spring’s scores for any student-related decisions. And…
Florida faces a confidence crisis in its annual testing program. Last week, for the second time in two months, the computerized system crashed, the result of avoidable vendor errors. The upshot has been heightened challenges to Florida’s 15-year-old accountability model. Parents and education advocates question whether the state pushed online testing before its time. They…
The Miami-Dade School District is taking advantage of a new state law and eliminating more than 300 final tests — also known as end-of-course exams. The law rescinds a requirement that districts give students a final exam in all subjects that don’t already have a required state exam. “Today’s announcement should come as welcomed news to everyone…
Miami-Dade County Public Schools has eliminated nearly all of the 300 District-Developed End-of-Course (DDEOC) assessments that were originally scheduled for Spring 2015. The move follows the passage of HB7069, a law that provides flexibility for districts to determine how to measure student progress, eliminating the state mandate for district-designated, end-of-course exams to be given in…