The brief respite from surging student enrollment is officially over for school districts across Florida. Kids by the thousands are pouring in, with no end in sight. Jobs are returning in several sectors, along with housing starts, particularly in the suburbs. Analysts project statewide enrollment will grow from 2.77 million children this year to…
DetailsAt the end of the day Friday, Florida students will have completed the 2016 state testing season. “We hold our breath through the entire situation,” education commissioner Pam Stewart told the State Board of Education. But “this year’s test administration has been very successful.” Last spring, the Florida Standards Assessments and other state exams were…
DetailsEducators have long complained that state accountability systems that use only test scores and graduation rates to rank or grade schools oversimplify school success, confuse parents, and mask achievement gaps. Now, education leaders and lawmakers in states including California and Kentucky have said they want to toss one-size-fits-all school rankings and give the public information…
Details#FridayFive – Five things in education news that you should know 1st ever nation’s report card for Technology and Engineering Literacy Therapy dogs encourage students to learn to read Schoolhouse Commercializing Trends report out Data dashboard for accountability instead of A-F grade? Should coding and computational thought be part of k-12 curriculae?
DetailsSchools now routinely direct children online to do their schoolwork, thereby exposing them to tracking of their online behavior and subsequent targeted marketing. This is part of the evolution of how marketing companies use digital marketing, ensuring that children and adolescents are constantly connected and available to them. Moreover, because digital technologies enable extensive personalization,…
DetailsAlthough Florida House Republicans annually call for overhauling the Florida Retirement System used by about 1 million active and retired public employees, a new study says it’s one of the most solvent funds in the nation. Pew Charitable Trusts’ Fiscal 50 report released Tuesday shows that the low level of Florida’s debt and unfunded employee…
DetailsFlorida’s pre-K program meets fewer “quality standards” than almost any other state-funded preschool program, according to an annual national report released this morning. The Sunshine State also “stands out” for the limited amount of money it spends to educate its 4-year-olds, the report said. The annual “State of Preschool” report ranked Florida 3rd in the…
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#FridayFive – Five things you should know Strength of the Florida pension system A call for presidential nominees to debate Common Core Harvard report analyzes educational outcomes for men of color Already controversy on new SAT scoring Many young high school graduates are unemployed
DetailsThe latest trend in higher education, right after stringer tanks and white Converse, is taking a break from it. It’s called a gap year, and studies suggest all the cool kids are doing it — or thinking about it. Maybe even more, now that President Obama’s oldest daughter, Malia, announced she’ll be taking some time…
DetailsTALLAHASSEE – Gov. Rick Scott will head to Washington, D.C. on Wednesday for a two-day trip in search of more resources and greater coordination with the federal government in responding to the outbreak of the Zika virus. “My job is to keep the 20 million people that live in our state safe, the over 100…
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