Test scores: The Florida Standards Assessments (FSA), six end-of-course exams and a statewide science test scores are released by the Department of Education. Scores were up slightly in the math portion of the FSA, while English scores remained steady. Orlando Sentinel. Tampa Bay Times. Sun-Sentinel. Palm Beach Post. Palm Beach Post. Florida Times-Union. Pensacola News-Journal. Fort Myers News-Press. Lakeland Ledger. TCPalm. TCPalm. TCPalm. Bradenton Herald. Naples Daily News. Tallahassee Democrat. Gainesville Sun. Panama City News Herald. St. Augustine Record. Daily Commercial. Sunshine State News. Highlands Today. Three of the five lowest-performing elementary schools in St. Petersburg show significant improvement in test scores. The other two reported mixed results. Tampa Bay Times.
Gates report: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s effort to reform education has had mixed results, according to a report by the Rand Corp. and the American Institutes for Research. More high-performing teachers are working in low-income schools, but even there they tend to teach wealthier white students. Teachers are getting more training, but they’re unhappy with their job evaluation process. And while math and reading scores improved for grades 3 and 8, reading scores dipped for poor and minority high school students, and the dropout rate rose. The Hillsborough County School District took part in the Gates initiative. Tampa Bay Times.
Charter issue in court: The 4th District Court of Appeal is being asked to decide what makes a charter school innovative and who should pass judgment on charter school applications. In 2014, the Palm Beach County School Board has turned down a charter application, saying the school didn’t offer anything more than the district already had. The Florida Board of Education ruled that the district had no reason to reject the application. Palm Beach board members say they alone have the right to oversee charters. Sun-Sentinel.
Paying for grades: A biology teacher at West Boca High boosted the grades of students who donated money for him to buy things for his classroom. The donating students received a “free pass” that allowed them to turn in assignments late and improve test scores or their overall class grade. Palm Beach Post.
Bathroom rights: Tuesday, the Collier County School Board will discuss the federal directive on the bathroom rights of transgender students. Board attorney Jon Fishbane will offer his legal analysis of the issue. Last month, board members delayed a vote on a policy, though all criticized the directive as an intrusion on their authority. Naples Daily News. Transgender students and other activists are expected to speak about their concerns at tonight’s Duval County School Board meeting. Florida Times-Union.
Teacher search: As the number of Spanish-speaking students grows, the Hillsborough County School District is traveling to San Juan, Puerto Rico, to recruit bilingual teachers. The district has more than 26,000 English language learner students, and about 75 percent of them speak Spanish. Tampa Bay Times.
School nurses: Staffing levels at school clinics vary wildly in the Tampa Bay area. Hillsborough and Pasco counties have a trained staffer at every school, with a nurse splitting their days between two or three schools. In Pinellas County, nurses rotate and school clinics are often left unstaffed. Hernando County has a student to nurse ratio of 2,728 to 1. The American Academy of Pediatrics recently recommended that every school have a full-time registered nurse. Tampa Bay Times.
Teen behavior: Fewer teens are engaging in sexual activity, drug use, drinking and smoking, according to a study by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. Associated Press.
Injury settlement: The Monroe County School Board is expected to approve a $75,000 settlement in worker’s compensation to a former Gerald Adams Elementary School day care worker who was hurt when she slipped and fell on the job in 2012. The board votes Tuesday. Keynoter.
Resume padding: The Pittsburgh School Board meets again today to discuss the future of newly hired Pittsburgh School Superintendent Anthony Hamlet, formerly an administrator in the Palm Beach County School District. Hamlet’s resume had several errors, and he appears to have plagiarized his educational philosophy. KDKA.
Opinions on schools: Persistently poor reading scores by the state’s third-graders call into question the overall success of Florida’s long and controversial experiment with high-stakes testing. Sun-Sentinel. It’s time to resolve the controversy over the Sarasota County School Board’s transgender bathroom policy by choosing the only path that makes sense: Let those students who identify as female use the girls’ restroom, and those who identify as male use the boys’. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. As it cuts staff, the Hillsborough County School District needs to focus on the needs of students. Tampa Bay Times. The Manatee County School District is exploring the advantages that a free walk-in clinic would yield. Since cost savings could be pumped into classrooms, property taxpayers would get more value for their money. That should be the outcome should the district pursue this worthwhile venture. Bradenton Herald. The Florida High School Athletics Association’s plan to restrict full-contact practices for high school football will limit the potential for injuries on the field. Tampa Bay Times. The right study skills can help prevent stress in school. Jenni Stahlmann and Jody Hagaman, Sarasota Herald-Tribune. The Volusia County School District and the teachers union should suspend legal hostilities, and the teachers should be allowed to vote on the choices they face. Daytona Beach News-Journal. The 2016 Florida Standards Assessment test results were released Friday. But what do they mean? St. Augustine Record. The Highlands County School District is in the business of educating students, and it’s sad when it has to divert energy and time to policing teachers and staff members for egregious behavior that puts our children in danger and makes the whole school community look bad. Highlands Today. Collier County School Board members’ self-evaluations show a divided group. Naples Daily News.
Student enrichment: Braden River High School students Olivia Yaryura, Jacob Huesman and Victoria Sinclair win first place at the international Future Problem Solvers competition for their homeless project, Homeless in Bradenton. Bradenton Herald. Students from the St. Mark’s Episcopal School in Palm Beach Gardens raise about $3,200 to send 10 poor Kenyan students to school. Palm Beach Post. Marjorie Hitchcock marks the fifth anniversary of her husband’s death by donating $500 to each of the 10 valedictorians at Land O’Lakes High School in Pasco County. Tampa Bay Times. The Dunedin Fine Arts Center offers students lessons in pottery-making in a mobile pottery studio. Tampa Bay Times.
