Florida School Boards Association
The Florida House plans to move quickly on its testing bill, leaders said Thursday. “We’re going to try to get this to the floor as soon as we possibly can so we can alleviate all of the stress and uncertainty in the field,” House Education Committee Chairwoman Marlene O’Toole said. Her goal: to ensure “the teachers can teach,…
With technology glitches hampering testing in major school districts, a Senate committee on Wednesday advanced legislation that represents the first significant attempt to scale back the scope of exams in Florida’s public schools. In a 7-4 vote, the Senate Pre-K-12 Education Committee endorsed a bill (SB 616) that would cap testing time at no more…
Florida House Speaker Steve Crisafulli is calling on lawmakers to overhaul the Florida Retirement System this year, something many observers see as an uphill battle because of continuing opposition in the Senate. Crisafulli on Tuesday laid out his agenda for the 2015 legislative session, including cutting hundreds of millions in taxes, improving the education system,…
The Florida Department of Education gave the all-clear to resume high-stakes testing on Tuesday, but South Florida’s largest counties postponed the exams as technical problems persisted for a second day. Florida’s testing failures instantly became fodder for state lawmakers as they opened their annual session. A pair of senators went so far as to call…
The troubles that plagued the roll out of Florida’s new computer-based test seem to be solved, and the state is confident the system can handle an increased testing load in the next month, Education Commissioner Pam Stewart said this morning. “Today we are seeing the assessment respond as it is intended to respond,” Stewart told a…
For the second day in a row, some Florida school districts decided to suspend required testing because of computer problems. The Florida Department of Education told school leaders this morning that test provider American Institutes for Research had found and corrected the problems that shut down testing Monday. The agency wrote the testing system was showing “improved” performance.…
When the very first round on the very first day of computer-based assessment testing went down in flames at public schools on Monday, Florida’s Department of Education said it was because of “computer technical difficulties.” However, “karma” — and bad karma at that — is a better description for what went wrong. Despite the many…
Today, Superintendent Pons sent a letter to Commissioner Stewart at the Florida Department of Education. The letter addresses issues and problems being experienced throughout the state in regards to the online version of the FSA testing. Superintendent Pons has decided to delay administering the test until assurances are given by the Department of Education that…
ORLANDO — Volusia County Schools says they have suspended Florida Standards Assessment (FSA) testing in grades 8 through 10 Tuesday after multiple districts reported issues with the new computerized testing system. Seven Central Florida counties told News 13 they experienced difficulties as students logged in Monday to take the English Language Arts writing test. Nancy…
Okaloosa County students encountered a few issues Monday morning as they started taking the Florida Standards Assessments for the first time. Choctawhatche, Crestview and Fort Walton Beach high schools and Bruner Middle School were all affected, according to district spokesman Henry Kelley. “The problem was we couldn’t get them (through) the login with the Department…