When New Teachers Get Mentoring, Student Math Scores Can Go Up, Study Shows

When new teachers get ongoing support from mentors, they’re better able to engage students and use assessment in instruction, and their students score higher on math assessments, according to a new study.  The study, conducted by SRI Education, is an independent analysis of the New Teacher Center’s mentorship program, funded through a 2016 federal Investing…

Grant trains K-12 staff to help students with mental health difficulties

Faculty and staff at Florida’s K-12 schools will receive training on how to recognize and assist students with emotional or mental health difficulties.  It’s thanks to a new $2.2-million dollar grant awarded to USF St. Petersburg’s College of Education. Read More

Florida School Boards Association works on legislative priorities

After a tough legislative session, in which school districts received little new funding without strings attached, the Florida School Boards Association is looking to ask lawmakers for increased support in the coming year.  School board members are holding out hope that new leadership will be more receptive to increased funding with fewer restrictions. The Florida…

Florida’s teacher shortage is ‘real, and it’s going to get worse,’ State Board of Ed member worries

As millions of Florida’s school children returned to classes this week, many schools struggled to find enough teachers greet and teach them.  “We are very concerned about the growing teacher shortage,” Cathy Boehme of the Florida Education Association told the state Board of Education on Wednesday.  Her review of three years’ worth of statewide teacher job…

Florida Board of Education supports funding flexibility as it discusses budgets

Teacher pay and school security topped the list of concerns for Florida Board of Education members Wednesday as they kicked off their annual legislative budget request process.  Though they wondered where they might find the money for any added expenses, board members stressed the need to increase teacher salaries to keep them in the schools and…

Florida county tries unconventional approach to deal with massive teacher shortage

Students across the country are heading back to school this month, amid a growing crisis to hire and keep qualified teachers. At the start of the last school year, more than 100,000 classrooms were staffed by teachers not fully qualified to teach, equivalent to about one classroom for every public school in the U.S.Nationally, about…

Study: Florida’s education system is a lot better than you probably think

The Sunshine State’s education system ranked right in the middle of the nation, according to a new WalletHub study.  Florida came in at No. 26 — between South Dakota and Ohio.  To determine which states had the best — and worst — education systems, WalletHub analyzed 25 key factors of a state’s education system including…

School grades: How much do they matter?

Florida issued its annual batch of school grades last month. Each elementary, middle and high school got an A, B, C, D or F.  Those grades certainly matter if a school consistently earns a D or an F. According to state law, such low performers risk being closed, converted to charter schools or turned over…

Florida TaxWatch presses for focus on school leadership, role of principals

Florida TaxWatch, the non-profit that calls out legislative “turkey” spending each year, is promoting an education agenda that would focus on the important role that school principals play in academic success.  For the past six years, the group has recognized principals whose schools, which serve low-income children, have accomplished test scores that exceeded expectations. Read More…