Florida School Boards Association
Florida’s public education system has dropped dramatically in a widely cited ranking of the 50 states. The drop from sixth place to 28th place on Education Week’s “Quality Counts” report is a black eye for state educators. Two years ago, Gov. Rick Scott cited Florida’s high ranking as vindication of the state’s education policies. But…
DetailsCandidates mouthed the words “education” a lot in 2014, but it was not a decisive election issue. Still, against the odds, 2015 might be the year the Florida Department of Education makes a sincere effort to make its testing policies reasonable. There has been legitimate concern that Rick Scott, safe in his second term and…
DetailsFormer Senate President and education appropriations committee chairman Don Gaetz wants to know how much the state spends on standardized testing. That’s a question which doesn’t have an easy answer, as captured in this exchange between Gaetz and the Department of Education’s Vince Burgess: Gaetz: “You’re telling me the total cost of all assessments and…
DetailsAfter a year that saw parents rise up against standardized testing, Florida lawmakers on Wednesday said they are prepared to improve the state’s assessment program. “We have a chance to do a rewrite so we can ensure that we are not over-testing our children, and ensure that we provide a road map to the districts…
DetailsMIAMI — A federal judge has ruled that Florida’s health care system for impoverished and disabled children violates several U.S. laws. In a ruling Wednesday, U.S. Circuit Judge Adalberto Jordan said lawmakers had for years set the state’s Medicaid budget at an artificially low level, causing pediatricians and other specialists for children to opt out…
DetailsOne of the key issues surrounding the latest release of Florida’s individual school grades is the higher bar the state employs as enshrined in law. When more than 75 percent of the state’s high schools earn A’s or B’s in one year, the grading criteria gets tougher the next. That occurred in 2013, so this…
DetailsThe standoff between Florida and the federal Education Department about testing students learning English is over, and Florida will get its way. The federal agency will allow the state to start counting English-learners results after two years in school. The feds wanted the state to count results after one year. Read the full article
DetailsMarion County officials with the school district and the teachers union on Tuesday welcomed a state review of standardized testing practices of all the state’s 67 public school districts. State Education Commissioner Pam Stewart ordered the review late Monday and asked the Department of Education to gather accurate information about the number of tests districts…
DetailsAt last. Some sanity has made its way into the frenzied world of high-stakes testing. It wasn’t easy to get to this point and, incredibly, it wasn’t assured, though anyone who has studied a foreign language for a trip abroad would understand. The U.S. Department of Education — DOE — reversed its unhelpful policy that…
DetailsTeacher and parent groups say Florida public school students are spending too much time taking – and getting ready for – assessments. Now, Senate President Andy Gardiner says lawmakers will likely hold hearings to review the amount of testing being done. “I think the jury’s still out on, you know, are we over testing,” Gardiner…
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