StateImpact Florida

What Did You Learn In School This Year? Tell Us Your Story

Sammy Mack — Fri, 24 May 2013 15:18:05 +0000

It was a big year for education policy in Florida.

FAU President Resigns After 'Significant Controversies'

Gina Jordan — Wed, 15 May 2013 17:06:14 +0000

Mary Jane Saunders has quit.

The president of Florida Atlantic University says bad publicity splashed across national headlines was too much.

Three Questions About Sequestration And Federal Budget Cuts For Head Start In Florida

John O'Connor — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 13:10:16 +0000

March 1 is the deadline for Congress to strike a budget deal or a series of automatic spending cuts totaling $1.2 trillion over a decade takes effect.

The cuts — k

Why South Florida Schools Lose Millions In Funding To Class Size Limit Penalties

editor — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 11:47:55 +0000

Florida lawmakers are considering a bill which would change the way the state calculates class size limits required by the state constitution.

Lawmakers may allow district schools to use the more flexible rules granted to charter schools.

District schools must calculate the class size of every classroom and count every violation.

Florida Senate President Says Teachers Shouldn't Expect An Even Playing Field

Gina Jordan — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 16:51:46 +0000

Supporters say the charter school bill that has a good chance of passing Florida’s Republican controlled Legislature this year will better regulate charters and expand choices for parents.

One thing the bill won’t do is require the same evaluations for charter school teachers as traditional public school teachers.

Charters schools which do not participate in the federal Race to the Top program do

Florida Teachers Sue To Toss Performance Pay As An Intrusion On Bargaining Rights

Brandon Larrabee — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 13:10:14 +0000

TALLAHASSEE -- Lawyers for a group of teachers asked a Leon County judge on Wednesday to throw out a nearly two-year-old state law aimed at tying teacher's pay and evaluations more closely to student performance.

Report Says Florida A National Leader In Charter School Growth — Another Says It’s Not Fast Enough

Gina Jordan and John O'Connor — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 19:00:00 +0000

The number of charter schools operating in the United States has surpassed 6,000 for the first time, according to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

Charters are now serving a record 2.3 million students based on estimates from the current school year. But a pro-choice non-profit says Florida school districts are preventing more charters from opening.

Fla. Education Commissioner Tony Bennett: I Lost My Last Job For 'Doing The Right Thing'

Sarah Gonzalez — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 12:16:52 +0000

Tony Bennett drove from Indiana over the weekend to start his first day as schools chief in Florida on Monday.

Last month the State Board of Education hired Bennett, a Republican who served as Indiana’s Superintendent of Public Instruction for one term.

He lost his re-election bid there after Democrat Glenda Ritz organized a grassroots campaign with help from the teachers union.

Bennett was viewed by some as being too aggressive towards teachers and not showing enough compassion when he pushed new policies, such as merit pay.

Why States Are Designing Two Tests For Common Core Standards

Gina Jordan — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 16:30:00 +0000

Forty-five states and the District of Columbia are working toward full implementation of Common Core standards.

But there's a split in the way states will measure what students have learned. Two different testing systems are on the table.

One test will average a series of test results to determine a student’s score. The other is a single, adaptive test which tailors questions based on a student’s past answers.

The tests are being designed now for use by 2014-15.

Three Questions For An Elementary Principal About Common Core

Gina Jordan — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 11:38:55 +0000

Florida is in the process of transitioning to common core standards in public schools.

The first full year of implementation is scheduled for 2014-15.

45 states and Washington, D.C. have agreed to adopt common core standards.

The standards will measure whether students across the country are reaching certain benchmarks in English, Math and Language Arts.

Talk To Us: What We Should Know About Remedial Education At Florida's Colleges

Elaine Chen — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 03:22:14 +0000

The series on remedial education at Florida’s colleges by NPR’s StateImpact Florida and the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting has prompted lots of conversations: Why are so many high school graduates needing remediation in college? Should a high school diploma be a certificate of college readiness -- perhaps only for some students.

We chatted online with StateImpact’s Sarah Gonzalez and FCIR’s Mc Nelly Torres along with a social media audience of students, educators and people interested in education policy.

Older, Returning Students Strain Florida’s Community and State Colleges

Rick Stone — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 16:50:13 +0000

Throughout the Great Recession, laid-off workers have been trying to improve their re-employment prospects with college training.

But, once they enroll at their local community colleges, many are finding that that their math, reading and writing skills have atrophied so much they can't continue at the college level without remedial classes.

Why More Florida Students Than Ever Struggle With Math

Sarah Gonzalez and McNelly Torres and Lynn Waddell — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 13:26:50 +0000

Wendy Pedroso has never liked math, but for most of elementary school and middle school she got B’s in the subject. It wasn’t until ninth grade at Miami Southwest Senior High School, when Pedroso took algebra, that she hit a wall. In particular, she struggled with understanding fractions.

What’s Causing The Rising Need For Remedial Classes

Sarah Gonzalez and McNelly Torres and Lynn Waddell — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Shakira Lockett was a pretty good student in elementary, middle and high school. The Miami-Dade County native says she typically earned As and Bs in English classes.

What Florida Students, Teachers And Parents Think About Remedial Education

Elaine Chen — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 11:00:00 +0000

The series on remedial education exposed what some in the public school system at the secondary and college level already knew: that many students are graduating from high school unprepared for college.

Adding Up The Cost Of Remedial College Courses

McNelly Torres and Lynn Waddell — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 16:00:00 +0000

Students and Florida taxpayers pay a price for remedial education in several ways

From 2004 to 2011, Florida’s remedial education costs for both students and schools ballooned from $118 million to $168 million. At the same time, statecollege funding has declined $544 million since 2007, causing tuition increases and creating a greater need for publicly funded financial aid.

How WLRN Talked Education With 17 Million People

Jessica Pupovac — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 20:07:32 +0000

Last week’s Twitter Education Forum, hosted last week in collaboration