Tom Majdanics tells the story of KIPP Impact Middle School in Jacksonville, Fla., in a pair of video clips. In the first, the school's first class of fifth-graders sits in the band room, instruments at the ready, poised to play their first note.
KIPP Impact Middle School graduated its first class of eight-graders earlier this year. Photo via KIPP Jacksonville.
"One, two, three, four," the conductor says. The instruments emit a warbly burst of noise. The screen fades to black.
The second clip shows the same students four years later, an orchestra of eighth-graders rocking a concert with a pitch-perfect rendition of Outkast's "Hey Ya."
Florida's first effort to bring a high-impact charter school to a high-needs neighborhood had its share of early stumbles, but it's starting to hit the right notes.
A recently approved expansion will allow KIPP to keep growing in Jacksonville. It raised its state letter grade again this year, and its students posted some of the strongest learning gains in Duval County. Meanwhile, KIPP's developing elementary school is expected to further boost the middle school, and it's hoping to work more closely with the local district to spread its impact.
Majdanics, KIPP Jacksonville's executive director, said the schools are still years from their goals, but this year more than ever, "the green shoots are unmistakable."
The effort is worth watching from across Florida and beyond, because state policymakers are looking to duplicate it.
Gary Chartrand, a state Board of Education member, is also a board member and early supporter of the KIPP Jacksonville foundation. He's pushing efforts to launch similar schools in other Florida cities - efforts that are set to get a boost from a new state grant program and might find additional support this year in the Legislature.
"What we're building with KIPP in Jacksonville should be a model, I think, for other urban areas throughout Florida," Chartrand said.
Need in Northwest Jacksonville
KIPP Jacksonville gives admissions preference to students in seven ZIP codes, a P-shaped area dotted with D and F schools.
At first, grades at KIPP's Impact Middle School languished too, with an F in its first year and a roller-coaster ride in the years that followed. But that's starting to change.
This year, its students boasted the second-highest learning gains in math among Duval's middle schools. The only school that performed better had about 20 percent of its students qualify for free- and reduced-price lunches, compared to 71 percent at KIPP Impact. (more…)
Lawsuits. A Sun-Sentinel opinion piece praises the lawsuit challenging Florida's tax credit scholarship program, which is administered by organizations like Step Up For Students, which co-hosts this blog.
School choice. Transferring out of neighborhood schools becomes commonplace, as thousands of Duval students take advantage of school choice programs. Florida Times-Union. Pinellas schools work to lure students with a new marketing campaign. Tampa Bay Times.
Technology. Students are often moving into the digital age ahead of their schools, but that's starting to change. Tampa Bay Times.
Charter schools. A charter school founder and school board member in Collier County wins a state education award. Naples Daily News. The number of applications fell last year, but the approval rate increased. Naples Daily News. A Duval charter on the verge of closure gets temporary reprieve. Florida Times-Union.
Single gender. The New York Times explores the resurgence of single gender programs in Florida.
Magnet schools. A robotics magnet is part of the turnaround plan for a struggling Seminole County school. Orlando Sentinel. A South Florida magnet school's building becomes a lesson in energy efficiency. Sun-Sentinel.
Catholic schools. A new Catholic school is planned in Tampa. Tampa Tribune.
Testing. Florida's third grade retention policy will remain in place during the switch to new assessments. StateImpact. The Palm Beach Post explores the dispute between Florida and federal officials over testing for English language learners.
Arts. The Tampa Tribune profiles a local conservatory.
Tax credit scholarships. The Florida teachers union may have cost Democrat Charlie Crist the governor's race by filing suit against the tax credit scholarship program and alienating black voters, writes Lloyd Brown at Sunshine State News. (The school choice program is administered by nonprofits such as Step Up For Students, which co-hosts this blog.)
Magnet schools. Pasco begins taking applications Dec. 1 for its first magnet school. Gradebook.
Charter schools. Nearly 50 have shut down in South Florida in the past five years. NBC 6.
Testing. State Sen. Aaron Bean, R-Fernandina Beach, files a bill to limit to 10 the number of days districts can set aside for standardized testing. Orlando Sentinel.
Teacher conduct. A former high school band director in Osceola is arrested for reportedly having sexual relationships with two students. Orlando Sentinel.
Campus crime. A second Sarasota County student is arrested for operating a prostitution ring involving students. Sarasota Herald Tribune.
Students with disabilities. River Ridge High in Pasco offers a club that fosters friendships between students with disabilities and students without disabilities. Tampa Bay Times.
Science. Middle school students in Miami-Dade show off science and innovation skills by designing new shoes. Miami Herald.
Middle schools. Duval looks for ways to boost the performance of its middle school students, among the most struggling in the state. Florida Times Union.
Competitive grants are prompting some of Florida's urban school districts to take a new approach to charter schools. Rather than wait for charter schools to come to them with applications, they're in a position to actively recruit them.
Take, for example, Hillsborough, which is one of the four districts to apply for charter collaboration grants through the state Department of Education.
The district's request for $3.3 million in grant funding notes that typically, its staff vets applications from charters that choose to apply, and makes recommendations to the school board, which decides to approve the school or reject it.
"This random process of solicitation by a charter school does not always meet the needs of the students in the district," its application states. "HCPS needs a proactive process to bring charter schools to the district and enhance capacity to support and monitor positive student outcomes."
Hillsobrough's plan starts with identifying neighborhoods with high academic needs, which are closely tied to poverty. In its application, the district notes that 43 percent of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunches score proficient on the FCAT, compared to 76 percent of students who don't.
The district, Florida's third largest, says it plans a competitive process where different charter operators will submit proposals for schools that would operate in those neighborhoods. It would help them open schools aimed at helping the district's more than 2,000 over-age middle schoolers, many of whom are concentrated in high-poverty areas of Tampa.
Once the charter operators are chosen, the district plans to use the grant funding to help the new schools get off the ground - something it says it does not have the resources to do on its own - and to help them find suitable facilities.
Proposals from the state's two largest districts, Broward and Miami-Dade, also describe plans to solicit proposals from charter organizations with proven track records, which would open schools in some of their most disadvantaged neighborhoods. Both districts say they plan to work with the National Association of Charter School Authorizers to develop a competitive selection process.
"This grant gives the District an opportunity, for the first time, to actively solicit proven high-impact charter school operators to serve the District's students," Broward's application states.
The fourth district to submit a proposal, Duval County, has plans to work with KIPP on an expansion of its Jacksonville schools.
State education officials are vetting the districts' proposals to decide which ones will receive grant funding.
Check out the grant applications below:
School choice. Add Voices for Choices to the list of school choice groups in Florida. redefinED. Duval County School District leaders propose a "Public Education Strong" marketing campaign to lure students back from charter and private schools. Florida Times Union. Sunshine State News's Nancy Smith says women are waiting to hear what Charlie Crist's position is on vouchers.
Magnet schools. The Broward County School District looks for ways to improve five F-rated magnet schools. South Florida Sun Sentinel.
Charter schools. The Palm Beach County Commission approves a $20 million financing deal for a new charter school. South Florida Sun Sentinel. The St. Johns County School Board considers a couple of applications. St. Augustine Record.
Teachers unions. More about new NEA President Lily Eskelsen Garcia, who visited South Florida last week. StateImpact Florida. Charlie Crist gets big money from the NEA. The Buzz.'
Technology. Low-income kids in the Pinellas County School District who were given laptops to take home last year outscore their peers without them. Gradebook.
Lawsuits. Members of the Bay County School Board, concerned about unfunded mandates, say they are considering joining the education funding/adequacy suit filed in 2009 by Fund Education Now and others. WJHG.
School spending. A school board member in the Manatee County School District raises concerns about the district's request for proposal regarding the hiring of security guards for elementary schools. Bradenton Herald. (Follow-up story here.) The Pinellas County School Board approves a $1.3 billion budget. Tampa Bay Times. The Hillsborough County School Board approves a $2.9 billion budget. Tampa Bay Times. The Marion County School Board approves a $475 million budget. Ocala Star Banner. The Leon County School Board approves a $530 million budget. Tallahassee Democrat. Guest columnists ask voters in Palm Beach County to reauthorize a property tax hike for education. Palm Beach Post.
Standardized testing. Complaints about a "toxic culture of testing" surface at a Brevard County School Board meeting. Florida Today. The Lee County School Board considers searching for ways to mitigate what it says is too much high-stakes testing. Fort Myers News Press. An Alachua County kindergarten teacher refuses to give her students standardized tests that are used for diagnostic purposes, putting her job at risk. Gainesville Sun.
Charter schools. The Miami-Herald writes about a push by parents to keep their F-rated charter school open. The Cape Coral charter system hires an interim superintendent. Fort Myers News-Press.
Special needs. Duval parents win a court fight with the district over appropriate education for their daughter with autism. But what's next? Florida Times-Union.
Lawsuits. Florida Education Association Vice President Joanne McCall explains the union's decision to sue the state over SB 850 in a Tampa Tribune column.
Teacher quality. The Duval school board signs off on a plan intended to draw highly rated teachers to schools where they are needed the most. Florida Times-Union.
Retention. A New York Times article on third-grade retention notes improved reading scores among Florida's fourth graders.
Campaigns. The Sun-Sentinel sizes up the field running for Palm Beach County school board. Seminole County school district employees who campaigned for a sales-tax initiative could face disciplinary consequences. Orlando Sentinel.
Vals and sals. Pasco schools will keep their honorary titles for graduates, at least for the time being. Tampa Bay Times.
Charter schools. City officials in West Palm Beach are looking for an operator to run a planned municipal charter. Palm Beach Post.
Private schools. The superintendent of Warner Christian Academy responds to recent coverage in the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Budgets. Property tax rates are expected to fall in Duval County, though total tax collections are expected to rise. Florida Times-Union. The Pinellas district spending plan will be aired during a meeting today. Tampa Tribune.
Reading. A controversial title makes its way back onto a middle school reading list. Tampa Bay Times. Struggling Volusia schools add an extra reading hour. Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Administration. The Fort Myers News-Press keeps digging into a principal's departure. A Manatee district employee faces discipline for lying to investigators. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Bradenton Herald.
STEM. StateImpact interviews the MacArthur Genius Grant recipient behind the Algebra Project, which is active in Miami-Dade. Perhaps math and science coursework should qualify students for merit-based scholarships such as Bright Futures, rather than SAT scores, Paul Cottle writes at Bridge to Tomorrow.
Campaigns. Democrats attack Gov. Rick Scott on education funding. PolitiFact rates them half true. Pinellas school board candidates talk charter schools, Common Core and other hot topics. Gradebook.
Transformation. The information revolution that's playing out in other industries will bring dramatic changes to education in the coming years, former Education Secretary Margaret Spellings writes in the Wall Street Journal.
Growth. Lee County schools are growing, but the district is short on construction funding. Fort Myers News-Press.
Class size. The Duval school district faces a penalty under the state's rules limiting class size. Florida Times-Union.
Closures. The Sarasota school district shuts down a school for emotionally troubled students, saying it would prefer to place them in mainstream classrooms. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Teachers. The Sun-Sentinel writes up the federal government's plan to improve teacher equity. Pasco schools aim to limit teachers transferring during the school year. Gradebook.
Superintendents. Osceola's superintendent gets a new contract. Sentinel School Zone.
Administration. An ousted Manatee County administrator could receive back pay and other compensation after complaints against him are dismissed. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Unions. Pasco county's school superintendent and union president are at odds over his management style. Gradebook.
Charter schools. In the first ruling of its kind, an administrative law judge rules the Miami-Dade school district unlawfully retaliated against administrators who backed a charter conversion. Miami Herald. A Gainesville charter school will close after learning it will likely receive another F. Gainesville Sun. A Palm Beach Post guest columnist questions a proposal to let charters share in tax revenue earmarked for arts programs.
Facilities. Leon County Schools spent more than the state average on recent additions to district schools, which, statewide, frequently exceed the statutory threshold for projects funded through the Public Education Capital Outlay. Tallahassee Democrat. An engineering report finds a Hernando middle school needs its roof fixed. Tampa Bay Times.
Tax Credit Scholarships. Catholic school principal Todd DeClemente explains the benefits of the program in a St. Augustine Record guest column. The author of a column to which he was responding is back with another item that flubs basic facts, confuses the First and Second Amendments, and makes false allegations about Step Up For Students, which helps administer the program and co-hosts this blog.
Growth. Pasco schools prepare for new construction to accommodate growing enrollment. Gradebook. Walton district officials expect to build two more schools. Northwest Florida Daily News.
Private schools. A Tampa private school listens to residents' concerns as it looks to add a performing arts center. Tampa Bay Times. A Montessori school in the Keys faces opposition to a planned new location. Keynoter.
Homelessness. A Central Florida teacher pledges to live on the streets for a month. Orlando Sentinel.
Teacher conduct. A Broward teacher is set to be fired after 15 years of problems. Sun-Sentinel. A teacher is suspended for failing to report child abuse. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Nutrition. Some school districts offer free breakfast and lunch in schools with a high density of low-income students; others do not. Orlando Sentinel.
Test results. New end of course exam results largely show improvement over last year. StateImpact. Tampa Bay Times. Orlando Sentinel. Florida Times-Union. Florida Today. Fort Myers News-Press. Bradenton Herald. Thousands of students still struggle in algebra. Miami Herald. Tampa Bay students improve in history, the Tampa Tribune reports here and here. South Florida students improve in algebra. Sun-Sentinel. More from the Palm Beach Post.
Charter schools. The Palm Beach school district withholds hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Mavericks school after and audit raises questions. Palm Beach Post.
Special needs. An embattled school for children with autism in Polk County is creating a new option in Pasco County. Lakeland Ledger.
Vouchers. The next political fights over school choice will be over regulation, The Federalist writes. The analysis incorrectly posits that the state's "Blaine Amendment" is what bars traditional school vouchers in Florida.
Performance pay. Gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist takes aim at Florida's teacher evaluation laws. Gradebook. More on education and gubernatorial politics from the Halifax capital bureau. Manatee administrators begin learning a new evaluation model. Bradenton Herald.
Common Core. Jeb Bush takes heat from conservatives over his support for the standards. Wall Street Journal.
STEM. Is Florida's science sequence "out of order?" Bridge to Tomorrow.
School safety. Hillsborough students do not always know to report sexual harassment. Tampa Bay Times.
