Florida School Boards Association
Education Commissioner Pam Stewart has recommended eliminating a high school exam, making another optional and asking state lawmakers and local school districts to cut back on the amount of testing. Stewart’s recommendations are the conclusion of a statewide review of standardized testing requested by Gov. Rick Scott. “There is, without a doubt, an excess of…
Florida school districts have until Tuesday to certify their readiness for the state’s spring computerized testing. Bay County superintendent Bill Husfelt says his schools aren’t ready. “We are not ready for the onslaught of the existing tests let alone new tests that we have not seen, have not had adequate time to prepare for and…
At dinner tables across Florida, parents and their elementary school children are trying to solve a math problem: What’s going on with my kid’s homework? Florida is one of dozens of states that has switched to new math standards based on Common Core. The standards outline what students should know in every grade. Experts say…
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Governor Rick Scott and First Lady Ann Scott today announced the 2015 Black History Month student and teacher contests winners. The winners will be honored tonight during the Black History Month reception at the Governor’s mansion. The reception celebrates the contributions African-American community leaders, educators and students make to Florida’s communities, culture…
ov. Rick Scott said today that Florida schools spend too much time on testing and that the Florida Legislature should fix that this year. Scott said a testing investigation he asked the Florida Department of Education to conduct should provide a “template” for changes. The governor, speaking at a Tallahassee education conference hosted by former…
As Jeb Bush edges closer to a presidential run, no issue may better define him than his efforts to improve education in Florida and the nation. To detractors, including the teachers’ unions, Bush undermined public education by promoting issues using vouchers to send students to private schools, expanding charter schools and emphasizing rigid testing and…
TALLAHASSEE | Student testing is at the center of Florida’s public education system. It serves as a way to assess student learning, evaluate teachers and grade schools. But as the public schools transition to the new Florida Standards Assessment, which replaces the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test this spring, lawmakers, educators, teachers and parents are calling…
DETROIT | A year after the GED exam underwent a massive overhaul — one that made it far more difficult but more in line with what’s expected of today’s high school grads — there has been a steep drop in people taking and passing the test. Preliminary numbers from the GED Testing Service estimate that…
As the state Senate moves forward with a sweeping plan aimed at fixing Florida’s testing troubles, a House education panel on Wednesday took up another subject entirely: school uniforms. House K-12 Education Subcommittee Chairwoman Janet Adkins, R-Fernandina Beach, convened experts from four school districts to talk about their experiences with clothing in the classroom. Wendy Dodge, who…
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The “Information Superhighway” may soon be regulated as a utility – and that could mean better and fairer access. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler announced this week that he will seek to have the Internet regulated under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934. Whitney Kimball Coe, a program associate…