Judge Weighs Third-Grade Policy After Contentious Hearing

A state judge is weighing a decision that could shake Florida’s education-accountability system following a marathon hearing Monday in Tallahassee.  After nearly nine hours of testimony and arguments, Leon County Circuit Judge Karen Gievers wrapped up a hearing on state and local policies for allowing students to move to the fourth grade but did not rule…

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Florida’s testing contractor loses $4.8 million for 2015 exam problems

The testing company that administers Florida’s key standardized exam has lost nearly $5 million because of problems that marred the roll out of the computer-based tests in 2015, the Florida Department of Education said Friday.  The department said American Institutes for Research, or AIR, will reimburse the state or lose payments that total $4.8 million.…

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Judge Halts Obama Administration’s Transgender-Student Rules Nationwide

A Texas federal judge issued a nationwide order late Sunday, temporarily halting application of the Obama administration’s guidance on transgender students while a 13-state legal challenge on the issue, led by Texas, is decided.  The case is one of a number of legal challenges related to the May guidance, in which the U.S. Departments of…

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Dominic Calabro: Remember to thank principals too during the first week back to school

For millions of parents and students this month around the Sunshine State, one of the most exciting parts of returning to school is meeting the teachers. And for good reason; teachers will spend 180 days helping students learn and grow as one of the primary influences, besides parents and family, in each child’s life. Read…

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