Florida Virtual: Tom Vander Ark gives his 10 lessons from the nation's largest provider of online learning. No. 1 - Big vision. Education Week. The lead attorney for the state-run FLVS argues K12, Inc. tried to trick parents by using two similar names, Florida Virtual Academy and Florida Virtual Program. WFTV.
MOOCs: Massive Open Online Courses - it's the latest trend in education and it's coming soon to a school near you. Times/Herald.
Private schools: St. Thomas Aquinas High School, a private school in Fort Lauderdale, makes its mark as a digital innovator with a $1.6 million classroom renovation. Sun Sentinel.
Charter schools: The superintendent of The Schools of McKeel Academy works off-site for a week during an investigation into a grievance against him. The Ledger.
Common Core: A Florida teacher talks about his experience reviewing the new standards. Education Week. The Thomas B. Fordham Institute, an education reform think-tank, tells Florida lawmakers to stay on track with Common Core. Tampa Bay Times. More from the Orlando Sentinel.
NAEP: Reading and mathematics achievement of the country’s eighth-grade students improved in the last two years, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. But fourth-grade performance remains stubbornly mixed. Education Week. Florida's average fourth-grade reading score remained, as it has been for a decade, above the national average. Orlando Sentinel. More from the Pensacola News-Journal, Tallahassee Democrat, and The Tampa Tribune.
Budget requests: Senate Republicans are unimpressed by the state Education Department’s proposal for a $386.6 million boost in 2014, when the governor will be running for re-election. Palm Beach Post.
Conduct: A fourth-grade teacher in Florida has returned to the classroom after a suspension for requiring one of her students, a Jehovah’s Witness, to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance on 9/11. Fort Myers News-Press.
