Florida School Boards Association
If you want to weigh in on how Florida should score its new standardized tests, you can show up at any of three public hearings or join an online “webinar” next week. All the meetings — hosted by the Florida Department of Education — will focus on how to score the new Florida Standards Assessments,…
Recent headlines about the discovery of head lice that are resistant to over-the-counter treatments have stirred up fears in many parents that the tedious task of ridding their children’s hair of the tiny pests may now be even more difficult. Perhaps intensifying their concerns, many news media outlets have dubbed the new strain of insects…
There’s growing concern about the risks of concussions in young athletes. For years, high school coaches have had to take courses on the dangers of head injuries. This year, for the first time, all high school athletes in Florida are required to educate themselves about concussions before they can compete. As the George Jenkins High…
After breaking up nine years ago, the state reconciled with insurance giant Gallagher & Co. and is now offering $2 million professional liability insurance coverage for educators and instructional staff. Education Commissioner Pam Stewart says that the program offers full-time instructional personnel – which, under state statutes, includes teachers, learning resource specialists, education paraprofessionals and…
Much to the chagrin of local school district officials, the Department of Education decreed that the Florida State Assessment is a valid standardized test – despite an independent review finding discrepancies in exam questions and the testing environment. Statewide setbacks during exam time last school year – glitches resulting from server crashes, cyber attacks and…
The superintendent of Florida’s largest district says an outside review of the state’s new test shows that Florida students weren’t being tested on what they were expected to know. Miami-Dade Superintendent Alberto Carvalho says a review of the Florida Standards Assessments released today shows that on some exams as many as one in three questions…
In 2016, expect standardized testing reform to be front and center among the Legislature’s education deliberations yet again. After an effort in the 2015 session eliminated some tests students have to take that lawmakers said were duplicates, state Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, the education budget chairman and former Senate president, says he’s going after even…
BAY COUNTY– Bay District School officials are still working their way through a report handed down from the Department of Education. The department contracted a third party group, Alpine Testing Solutions, to examine the validity of the Florida Standards Assessments which students are required to take each year. The almost 200-page report states that the tests are…
Notice regarding next week’s FSBA’s Board of Directors’ Leadership Development and Training; Board of Directors’ Meeting: Please be aware that we are closely monitoring the path and conditions of Tropical Storm Erika. Florida is currently expecting heavy rains on Monday and Tuesday next week; Wednesday should see a clearing of the weather event. If these…
GAINESVILLE—Education commissioner Pam Stewart on Wednesday said she expects to receive the results of a third-party review of Florida’s new state assessments by next week but offered no detail as to what the department will do if the tests are invalidated. “We’re waiting on results of the validity study, and as soon as we have…