Florida School Boards Association
No doubt you’ve heard this: ‘Third grade is the year when students go from ‘learning to read’ to ‘reading to learn.’ The truth is not so clear-cut, as explained here by Joanne Yatvin, a past president of the National Council of Teachers of English who now supervises student teachers for Portland State University. She also…
The U.S. Department of Education today announced new guidance for schools and districts on how to keep parents and students better informed about what student data is collected and how it is used. In the guidance issued by the Department’s Privacy Technical Assistance Center, schools and districts are urged to be proactive in communicating how they use student…
The U.S. Department of Education is on the verge of releasing the first draft of new guidance on the peer-review process for standards and tests, a document that could exert a powerful influence on how states set academic expectations. Little known outside the assessment world, the process is wonky and technical. But it is an…
The old-fashioned way may be the best way when it comes to teaching math. A new study finds struggling students learned more with much-maligned “drill and kill” techniques to teach basic math concepts. Some parents and critics have complained that Common Core standards encourage schools to put less emphasis on drill-based math instruction. To help…
While kids are (possibly) doing summer reading, some activists are working hard to flunk the Common Core. Four years ago, when 44 states had adopted the K-12 curriculum standards, the whole thing seemed quiet and inevitable. Today, resistance is everywhere: from teachers and parents who chafe over testing requirements to Tea Party types who see…
Job openings for STEM positions take longer to fill than openings in other fields. The median duration of advertising for a STEM vacancy is more than twice as long as for a non-STEM vacancy. For STEM openings requiring a Ph.D. or other professional degree, advertisements last an average of 50 days, compared to 33 days…
The pair of education advocates had a big idea, a new approach to transform every public-school classroom in America. By early 2008, many of the nation’s top politicians and education leaders had lined up in support. But that wasn’t enough. The duo needed money — tens of millions of dollars, at least — and they…
A new Education Week report analyzing graduation rates shows that Florida remains among the lowest states in getting teens through high school, with a 75 percent rate for 2012 compared to 81 percent nationally. That places Florida 43rd, along with Alabama and better than Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, South Carolina and the District…
For the third year, public expenditure per student fell nationwide, according a recent release from the U.S. Census Bureau. Per pupil, school spending totaled $10,608 in 2012, roughly the same amount as the year before. Due to a number of factors, however, spending per student ranged widely among the 50 states. New York was the…
President Barack Obama’s proposal to equip nearly every school with high-speed wireless Internet will cost $800 million per year — $3.2 billion total by the 2018 deadline — according to a new estimate given to the Federal Communications Commission. The initiative is important to Florida schools for two reasons. First, schools are switching to new…