School Board elections. Twelve candidates vie for four seats on the Duval County School Board. Florida Times-Union. Two incumbents there draw no challengers. Florida Politics. Former state board member and Gov. Rick Scott appointee John Colon will keep his Manatee County School Board seat after drawing no challengers. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. A Scott-appointed Broward school board member also wins re-election unchallenged, but two other board members draw opponents. South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Pinellas school board races see last-minute shakeups. Gradebook.

Superintendent races. Martin County's incumbent draws a last-minute challenger. TC Palm. Leon County races for schools chief and other local posts are now set. Tallahassee Democrat.

Charter schools. The Florida Times-Union compares district and charter school test scores in Duval County. A Manatee County charter school will run its own bus fleet, using district-donated buses, to end a simmering transportation dispute. Bradenton Herald.

District growth. The clock is ticking for Volusia schools to create more space, as they prepare for an influx of 1,000 more students next year. Daytona Beach News-Journal. The Lee County school board grapples with a land acquisition deal. Fort Myers News-Press.

Innovation. School systems need to be liberated from bureaucracy, an entrepreneurial educator writes in the Panama City News Herald.

Credit recovery. A former student explains how her district steered her into an online option outside the state's accountability system — and says she benefited. Tallahassee Democrat. (more…)

The recent era of education reform has seen achievement gaps narrow, and low-income black and Latino students improve their graduation rates.

Yet, as Hugh B. Price argues in a new paper for the Brooking Institution, "the bottom line, after all these years, all the interventions, all the testing and tough love, and all the investment, is encouraging yet still underwhelming."

Some of the blame for the shortcomings, he writes, lies with something that has historically been a blind spot for reformers and educators: Social and emotional learning, which research shows can lead to students to better academic results, and make them more likely to reach college or find a job.

Stop here, and Price, a Brookings fellow and past president of the National Urban League, might seem to be making the case for schools that nurture children's needs holistically. For some children, that might require schools run by, say, church ministers or other culturally competent adults in their communities — an argument, in short, for school choice.

But Price is primarily concerned with students who have "palpably tuned out" of schooling — the kinds of students who turn up by the thousands in the "drop back in" or dropout-recovery academies (charter schools and otherwise) of Florida's largest school districts.

For these students, often at risk of graduating behind schedule if at all, he argues a new breed of school is needed, organized around a "dual mission of fostering academic and social development."

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We recent took a look at the rise of dropout-recovery charter schools, a niche that has blossomed under the radar around Florida, at times with the support of school districts.

The Florida Times-Union reports some of these schools are coming under scrutiny from the Duval County School Board. On Tuesday, the board imposed a new ultimatum for three Jacksonville credit-recovery charters to raise their graduation rates.

The paper reports the schools are being asked to boost their graduation rates by 25 percent a year.

That’s a tough challenge, but the schools are willing to take it on, said Angela Whitford-Narine, president of Accelerated Learning Solutions Florida. “We understand the district’s desire to raise the on-time graduation rates ... and have agreed to this particular performance measure,” she said.

“It is a stretch for a program such as ours, where most of the students are already past their graduation [age] or are significantly behind, to meet this criteria,” she said. “But we are willing to accept this challenge as part of our collaboration with the district.”

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The students at the City of Palms Charter High School in Fort Myers, Fla., had good reason to be excited. In a few hours, buses would take them to Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens in Tampa. The annual trip rewards students who come to school regularly during the first months of the school year and complete some of their courses.

For many students at City of Palms and a growing array of similar schools, that’s no small feat.

Charter schools like it are growing to fill a vaguely defined, little-studied and often-overlooked niche in Florida’s increasingly diverse education landscape. They carry descriptors like "dropout prevention," "alternative schools," and "credit recovery."

In plain terms, they are schools of last resort. They cater to students who dropped out or at risk of doing so, or who have failed courses or “aged out” of traditional high school. They use blended or online lessons to help students rack up credits. The goal is for them to make up for lost time, and leave with a standard diploma.

As the principal, Sarah White, moved through the warren of computer desks inside City of Palms' main campus, she asked students: "Everybody get their five quizzes" for the day? If they have, they're on track.

City of Palms targets students aged 16-21. When students enroll at the school, or at a new, second campus in nearby Lehigh Acres, they receive a transcript, which lists the courses they've completed and the courses they need to graduate. Using the Apex online curriculum, they take their courses one at a time, immersing themselves in a single subject until they pass the final exam and are cleared by their teachers. Finishing a course can take about a month.

"I've had kids finish a P.E. class in a week. I've had kids finish English in two months," White said. "The biggest thing is making them accountable for their education."

The classrooms contain large banks of computers, with teachers offering help to students who need it. There are no class changes in the halls, and there is no cafeteria. When students arrive, for morning or afternoon sessions (another common feature of credit recovery charters), they're free of distractions.

While there have long been alternative schools aimed at students who have fallen behind, City of Palms is part of a relatively new breed of alternative charter schools that specialize in credit recovery. The rise of credit-recovery programs, aided by the growth of online learning, is only beginning to get attention from education researchers.

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by Holly Sagues

Florida Virtual School began as an idea developed in the Florida Legislature. With a $200,000 “break the mold” grant, a small group was charged with attempting something truly disruptive: create the nation’s first online public school. From those early moments 16 years ago to present day, Florida Virtual School has changed the landscape of public education in Florida and nationwide. In 1997, FLVS had 77 students. In fiscal year 2011-12, we had more than 149,000 students in Florida alone.

Florida Virtual School keeps the student at the center of every decision we make. Seeing every student as an individual is one of the key reasons so many FLVS students achieve and exceed expectations. With our students in the center, FLVS has concerns with the way the language of two Florida House bills, HB 5101 and HB 7029, account for student access and opportunity.

The language used in these bills changes the lens through which the Legislature sees student funding. It moves from addressing unique student needs to a “one-size-fits-all” model that pits district against district. Essentially, the proposed language caps the amount that can be spent on an individual student to a single full-time equivalent (1.0 FTE). This dollar amount is static, and it does not change based upon the number of courses a student successfully completes.

Each student has individual reasons for taking FLVS courses, reasons that vary from acceleration to credit recovery to grade forgiveness and others. Most FLVS students are concurrently enrolled in a brick-and-mortar school, and many take FLVS courses in addition to their six- or seven-period day.

If HB 7029’s and HB 5101’s changes are implemented, the FTE associated with a student taking a full load at a zoned school will be divided between the two (or more) providers of that student’s education, based upon the individual district’s FTE calculation, which varies based upon district. The bill language says “proportionately” but this word is incorrect because FLVS already receives a reduced amount compared to brick-and-mortar schools. (more…)