South Florida State House Candidates Agree There’s Too Much Testing

The candidates running for three South Dade state House seats — Republican, Democrat, independent — all agree that Florida students and schools spend too much time testing. Candidates running for the Florida House of Representatives in the 112th, 114th and 115th districts gathered for an education forum Tuesday night at Palmetto Middle School. “The biggest…

No word on ELL testing, Florida education department pledges legal action next week

Back in August, the U.S. Department of Education criticized Florida’s approach to testing of students learning English, saying it would compromise the state’s ability to keep its waiver from federal No Child Left Behind requirements. State officials shot back angrily. Gov. Rick Scott held a press conference in Miami threatening legal action if the feds didn’t relent within…

Why A Miami Middle School Is Teaching Debate To Conquer Common Core

Bridget McKinney, principal at Miami’s Allapattah Middle School, says her students struggle to pass the state’s reading and writing tests. So when McKinney first read the Common Core math and language arts standards used in Florida schools this year, what jumped out was the emphasis on answering questions and making arguments using examples and evidence…

Superintendents to state: Schools aren’t ready for new tests

TAMPA — Florida school districts are ill-prepared to administer state tests this spring and should get a one-year respite from school grades, Hillsborough County school superintendent MaryEllen Elia told the State Board of Education on Monday. Her comments reflect what other Florida superintendents have been saying for months, and they echoed mounting public concern over…

1,000 New Reasons School-testing Insanity Must Stop

A front-page article in Tuesday’s newspaper contained a stunning number: 1,000. That was the approximate number of new standardized tests Orange County is debuting this year to keep up with all the demands of Florida’s education mandates. We’re talking about standardized tests for P.E. and band. For kindergartners and brain-damaged children. For cooking classes, debate…

School board to state: Three-year switch to new standardized tests

Palm Beach County School Board members added their voices Wednesday night to growing opposition to state-mandated testing and its consequences, unanimously adopting a resolution in protest. The resolution was one of the actions board members decided on last week during a workshop. The two-page “Resolution on Accountability” details a long list of problems related to…