Test waivers request: Districts around the state that have seen spikes in enrollment due to this season's hurricanes are requesting waivers from the state of the testing requirements for graduation for those students. Without the waivers, officials from the districts say, many students will be held back even though they were on track to graduate from their island schools. “I think that if they were demonstrating on-grade proficiency in Puerto Rico, if they were on track in terms of credits necessary for graduation, if they have met the prerequisites for graduation, then I think a degree of compassion ought to be extended to them and provide them safe passage to the graduation stage,” says Miami-Dade Superintendent Alberto Carvalho. More than 8,500 students from the islands have enrolled in Florida schools, and more are expected. The 74.
Students save bookstore: Third-graders at Tomoka Elementary School in Ormond Beach are credited with saving a Barnes & Noble bookstore that was in danger of closing. Students wrote a letter to the company CEO, asking him for help, and he intervened to get the Daytona Beach store's lease extended. “I thought it was very empowering for our students to learn that their voice can make a significant change,” says Tomoka principal Susan Tuten. Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Mental health counselors: St. Johns County School Board members will consider a proposal to place a licensed mental health counselor at every school in the district. School officials say the cost would be covered through “defined member benefits” of individual insurance or government assistance plans. These counselors, also called motivational coaches, would be provided by the Motivational Coaches of America Inc. of Doral. If the board approves the plan, a pilot program will run from January to June at several middle and high schools. St. Augustine Record.
Scholarship support: Supporters of tax-credit scholarships will rally at the Florida Capitol today. The constitutionality of the 15-year-old Florida Tax Credit Scholarship program is being challenged in court by the state's largest teachers union. Step Up For Students, which hosts this blog, helps administer those accounts. Miami Herald. WFSU. Sunshine State News. The guest speaker at the rally is Martin Luther King III, who says he supports public education and tax-credit scholarships, and believes his father would have as well. Politico Florida.
Bush on education: Republican presidential candidate and former Florida governor Jeb Bush unveils his heavily school choice-centric education plan. It would allow parents to spend government dollars on a pre-K program of their choice, give college students a $50,000 line of credit to pay tuition, allow federal funding for schools with many low-income students to follow a child to a new school, and double federal support for charter schools. Politico. USA Today. The Hill. Associated Press.
Concussion doctor: Dr. Bennet Omalu, whose 2003 study on concussions sent shock waves through football at all levels, is speaking at Florida Atlantic University on Feb. 16. Omalu is portrayed by Will Smith in the current movie Concussion. Palm Beach Post.
Pre-K issues: The Early Learning Coalition of Hillsborough County and the school board are fighting over control of who processes voluntary pre-kindergarten and subsidized school readiness program applications. The school board has been doing it since 1969, but the coalition says the applications have been riddled with errors and it can do a better job. Tampa Tribune. Studer Community Institute will provide $50,000 in awards for the best proposals to improve the kindergarten readiness rate in Escambia County. The company says about 1,000 children in the county enter kindergarten unprepared. Pensacola News Journal.
Kindergarten scramble: Trying to get your children into the right school used to be about college, then high school. These days, plenty of parents are going to a lot of trouble to try to find a spot in the "right" kindergarten. Palm Beach Post. (more…)
Graduation rates: Florida's graduation rate is up to 77.8 percent, a gain of 18.5 percentage points since 2004-2005, according to a state Department of Education report. Graduation rates for minorities are also up. The rate measures the percentage of students who graduate within four years of starting ninth grade. Miami Herald. Tampa Bay Times. Tampa Tribune. Orlando Sentinel. Sun-Sentinel. Palm Beach Post. Tallahassee Democrat. Florida Today. Florida Times-Union. Pensacola News Journal. Fort Myers News-Press. Lakeland Ledger. TCPalm. Bradenton Herald. Naples Daily News. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Gainesville Sun. WFSU. Sunshine State News.
Testing standards: Business leaders are urging the Florida Board of Education to not lower the state's standards for academic proficiency. The board meets today to decide on how to use test scores to grade students and schools. Tallahassee Democrat.
Tax-credit scholarships: National groups of minority education advocates are urging the Florida Education Association to drop its legal challenge of the state's program that gives tax-credit scholarships that allow poor children to attend private schools. Step Up for Students, which hosts this blog, helps administer those accounts. Politico Florida. In Orlando, costumed children and camels acting as the three wise men who visited the infant Jesus after his birth march to protest the FEA lawsuit. Orlando Sentinel. WKMG. (more…)
Teacher evaluations: A report by the National Council on Teacher Quality finds that most states now require objective measures of student achievement in teacher evaluations, but that almost all teachers are being rated effective or highly effective. The report singles out Florida as a leader in tying teacher evaluations to policies and to pay. THE Journal.
Top U.S. high schools: Ten Florida high schools are on the annual top 100 list compiled by U.S. News & World Report. Miami's International Studies Charter High School is rated the best high school in Florida and the 13th best in the United States. Here are the top schools in Florida, and here are the national rankings. Miami New Times. Gradebook.
Charter school payback: Newpoint Education Partners is repaying $75,000 in federal grant money that went to the East Windsor Middle Academy in St. Petersburg rather than account for how the money was spent. The company, which owns and operates five charter schools in Pinellas County, sent the check to the school district. It said its former accounting firm had not followed the necessary documentation procedures allowing it to be eligible for the grant. Gradebook.
Reading study: A report from Morgridge International Reading Center at the University of Central Florida shows Florida elementary students who received instruction in the Istation reading program had growth in all areas. Istation is an online program that evaluates students and puts them on individualized learning paths. (more…)
