This year's science results on the Nation's Report Card brought good news for Florida students, who posted some of the largest improvements in the country.

Their results on the 2015 National Assessment of Educational Progress' science exams improved compared to 2009. And they rose faster than the nation as a whole, which also improved.

Florida's scores among Hispanic students were among the best in the country, as were scores for low-income fourth graders.

Historically, Florida's performance on the national assessments has been mixed. Its students have performed increasingly well in reading, especially in fourth grade. They've tended to struggle more in math and science, especially in eighth grade.

In this year's science results, eighth graders matched the national average score for the first time.

And fourth graders actually topped it, in a year when scores for the rest of the country also rose significantly.

Overall, Florida's scores rose by an average of seven points in both grades over six years, compared to a national jump of four points. (more…)

STEM. Florida's science results on the Nation's Report Card improve, and beat the national average. Orlando Sentinel.

Tax credit scholarships. Florida Today's Matt Reed examines the lawsuit against the state's tax credit scholarship program in a video segment. Step Up For Students, which publishes this blog, helps administer the scholarships.

Time suck. Palm Beach teachers miss hours of class time sitting in meetings. Palm Beach Post.

Dress code. The ACLU backs one student's protest. Tampa Bay Times.

Digital learning. St. Johns County school officials grapple with the state's new digital classrooms law. St. Augustine Record.

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by Renée Stoeckle

Earlier this month, the results of the Nation’s Report Card showed Catholic school students once again outperforming their public school peers in both reading and mathematics.

The report, which biannually compares achievement of fourth-, eighth-, and twelfth-graders in public, non-public and private schools across the US, is widely considered to be the most consistent measure of student achievement in the United States.

The gaps between Catholic school students and their public-school peers grow wider for the oldest students. By twelfth grade, the differences are staggering: 63 percent of Catholic school seniors perform at or above proficiency in reading, compared to 37 percent of public school seniors.  Similarly, 48 percent of Catholic school seniors perform at or above proficiency in math, compared to 25 percent of public school seniors.

What is it about Catholic schools that leaves their seniors performing so much higher than their public-school peers, year after year?

One possible explanation may lie with what a team of social scientists notoriously termed the “Catholic school effect.”  In the early 1980s, a research team led by Andrew Greeley and James Coleman found that students attending Catholic high schools gained between 0.8 and 1.7 grade-equivalents more than their public-school peers between their sophomore and senior years.

In the decades since they issued their High School and Beyond report, public schools have steadily closed their performance gap with private schools, especially with younger students, whose achievement is subject to greater scrutiny in most school accountability systems.

Still, the wider gaps for older students on the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress, in which results for all 12^th graders nationally were largely flat, recalls Coleman and Greeley's findings at a time when many educators are looking for better ways to keep students engaged through their final years of high school. (more…)

Bathroom access: The Marion County School Board approves a policy to ban transgender students from using the bathroom based on their gender identity. The measure goes into effect today. Ocala Star Banner. Earlier Tuesday, the ACLU of Florida issued a letter warning the board that the policy would harm students and "violate Title IX sex discrimination requirements, violate the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution and jeopardize federal funding for the school district." Ocala Star Banner. WCJB.

LGBT policy: A divided Brevard County School Board is asking school officials to amend the district's nondiscrimination and equal employment policies to include protection for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students and staff. The revisions would be discussed at a public meeting before being voted on by the board. Florida Today.

Test scores: U.S. high school seniors' National Assessment of Educational Progress test scores dropped slightly in math and stayed about the same in reading, according to the 2015 Nation’s Report Card from the National Assessment Governing Board. Florida seniors' results mirrored the national ones, though Florida scored slightly higher than the national average in both subjects. Sunshine State News.

District overspending: The Broward County School District's police department has overspent its budget by about $2.5 million, prompting an audit and a request to the school board for more money. The department has just $50,000 left in its budget for this fiscal year, and $3.5 million in expenses that have not been paid. The financial problems were discovered in a review of the way the department handles personnel investigations. Sun-Sentinel.

School choice: Dismantling school choice would harm Florida students, schools and taxpayers, warns John Kirtley, venture capitalist and chairman of Step Up For Students, which hosts this blog. He was speaking to the Economic Club of Florida. The Florida Education Association and other groups have sued the state, challenging the constitutionality of the school choice programs. The case goes to a state appeals court in May. Step Up For Students administers tax-credit scholarships for about 80,000 low-income students, and also the Gardiner Scholarships for students with disabilities. Tampa Tribune. Miami Herald. Politico Florida. WFSU. (more…)