FSBA Friday Five – August 16, 2019
Surprise! Students retain more reading printed text Building a better backpack A teachers’ library for science lab equipment results in more hands on science for kids There is opportunity to be found within the growing diversity of U.S. adolescents Top secret teens: The high schoolers recruited by the National Security Agency
New tax estimates point to ‘winded’ economy
Heading into a critical election year, Florida legislators may have to tighten spending because of a combination of a slowing economy and reverberations of financial decisions. State economists on Wednesday drew up new estimates that predict the state will take in about $867 million less in revenue over two years than earlier anticipated. Read More
State panel scrutinizes school safety
A state school-safety commission meeting got heated Wednesday as members tackled a range of issues stemming from a controversial school “guardian” program, while one panelist recommended allowing Florida pre-schools to have armed security. Read More
Education Board Considers Streamlined Misconduct Rules, Mandatory Substance-Abuse Courses
The State Board of Education is poised to consider new rules next week, including a requirement that all public schools begin teaching students each year about youth substance abuse. Schools would also be mandated to report the professional qualifications of people teaching the classes, according to the rule. The reporting proposal would require school superintendents […]
Florida is now monitoring students’ social media behavior
As kids head back to school across Florida in the coming weeks, the state has a new tool designed to help school districts identify, assess and provide intervention services to students whose behavior may pose a threat to themselves of others.The Florida Schools Safety Portal (FSSP) was unveiled by the state Department of Education on […]
Getting tough: Florida’s education chief Richard Corcoran tells school districts to fall in line
Mental health. Career planning. Personal finances. The list of topics that Florida lawmakers have required school districts to cover in classrooms continued to grow this year — some with little advance notice or funding to support them. The mental health mandate, for instance, came from the State Board of Education less than a month before […]
FSBA Friday Five – August 9, 2019
Results are in. PDK poll of the public’s attitudes toward the public schools for 2019 Cool stuff—there may be a SuperEarth (far, far, away) Build empathy and understanding by paring comics and novels Pushing back on averages and embracing the science of the individual A 2-step process for reducing student chronic absenteeism
What’s new in Florida education?
The Florida Legislature gave school districts another bumper crop of new and revised rules for the year that begins next week, ranging from who gets teacher bonuses to how to treat incidents of anti-Semitism. Many of the issues got plenty of attention as lawmakers debated them, sometimes fiercely and furiously. But often, the details on […]
Baker Act Reporting Center: More than 36,000 children placed under act in 2017-2018
The University of South Florida’s Baker Act Reporting Center has released numbers from the 2017-2018 fiscal year that show cases of involuntary examinations under The Florida Mental Health Act (commonly known as ‘the Baker Act’) are on the rise. The annual report shows that 205,781 people were placed under the Baker Act during the year. […]
Florida launches school security database with student discipline, health, social media info
The Florida Department of Education rolled out its database of student information late Thursday that’s designed to enhance school security in the wake of last year’s shooting in Parkland.The data is primarily for groups of law enforcement, counselors and other school staff charged with evaluating threats made by students and deciding which ones may need […]
State panel tightens ethics rules for Florida’s public officials
An effort to raise ethical standards for Florida politicians and public employees has passed a critical test. More than 6 million voters approved a Florida Constitutional Amendment 12 last fall, in hopes of strengthening the state’s rules against public officials using their positions for public gain. The amendment got the most votes among the dozen […]
FSBA Friday Five – August 2, 2019
Computational thinking is critical thinking and belongs in every subject How the choices we make can help children and the community as a whole become more resilient in the face of serious challenges Outschool called the Netflix of learning When will it stop? Cyberbullying continues to rise The perfect grilled cheese sandwich, explained by science
Which Florida teachers are ‘content experts’?
Lawmakers set new rules in the spring for who could qualify for a “Best and Brightest” teacher bonus this year. One of the categories it created was a “recruitment” award. It would be paid to newly hired teachers deemed “content experts” in mathematics, science, computer science, reading or civics. The Legislature left it to the […]
New changes aim to help thousands of struggling educators pass mandatory test to teach
Local schools are dealing with serious teacher shortages but an Action News Jax investigation has found thousands of prospective teachers are being kept out of the classroom because they can’t pass a mandatory test to become fully licensed. Read More
Questions remain about Florida’s new school-based mental health effort
Florida is planning to reinvent school-based mental health awareness, but Florida International University (FIU) psychologists are raising questions about the plan’s implementation. The goal is to help students identify the signs and symptoms of mental illnesses, how to get help for themselves and others and what to do or say to peers affected by a […]
FL’s Pre-K program has high participation but may not always prepare kids for kindergarten
Of the 50 states, Florida’s prekindergarten program has the highest percent of 4-year-olds enrolled in the early learning programs. Only Washington D.C. has a higher percentage. Nearly 175,000 little students attended in 2017-18 — 77 percent of Florida’s 4-year-olds. That’s according to a 2018 analysis called “The State of Preschool 2018.” Read More Read the […]
FSBA Friday Five – July 26, 2019
A million word gap for children who aren’t read to at home More young people in foster care due to parental drug use Bullying continues to increase, especially online Ed Tech & Innovation/Technology Counts 2019 Report Cyberbullying—who is being affected and what to do if you or a loved one are a victim
‘Little bit vague’: Grand jury report on school safety puzzles North Florida school officials
Florida school district officials are on alert in the days after an interim grand jury report found that some districts in the state’s 67 counties “have failed — or refused — to accept their responsibility for school safety.” The grand jury report is dated Friday, July 19, 2019 and found that “numerous school districts” in the state […]
Florida teachers: Did your school do well enough for you to get a bonus?
In part to settle a lawsuit contending the state’s Best and Brightest teacher bonus was discriminatory, Florida legislators in the spring changed the eligibility criteria for future awards. Gone was the reliance on SAT and ACT scores. In its place came the use of a school’s improvement in the state accountability points system used to […]
Grand jury: Florida schools, police bickering over security
Some Florida school districts and law enforcement agencies have not fully complied with security measures enacted after a 2018 high school massacre because they are bickering over who is responsible, an interim report by a statewide grand jury says. Read More Read First Interim Grand Jury Report