No Child bill update: Today, the U.S. Senate is poised to approve the revised No Child Left Behind Act. The changes would allow states greater control over public schools, particularly in how they assess student and teacher performance. The White House has said President Obama will sign the bill. Associated Press.
Class size violations: Very few Florida school districts are in violation of the class-size regulations in the October count, according to the Department of Education. Many were helped by the loophole that allows districts to define what a school of choice is, since those schools can use schoolwide class size averages rather than classroom counts. Gradebook.
Bill on grades: State Rep. Shevrin Jones, D-West Park, files a bill that would suspend school grades for the 2015-16 and 2016-17 academic years and require the State Board of Education to “adopt and implement a school grading system that is demonstrably equitable, reliable, timely, rigorous, affordable, and rationally funded.” News Service of Florida, via Tampa Tribune.
Recess renewed: The Polk County School Board approves a policy requiring recess for elementary students. Lakeland Ledger.
Duval school changes: After getting input from working groups, parents and school staff, Duval County School Superintendent Nikolai Vitti is modifying some of his proposals to rewrite school boundaries and change school programs. Florida Times-Union.
Turnaround specialist: The Pinellas County School Board downplays the extent of the problems at five troubled St. Petersburg schools, but hires a turnaround specialist to help them. Tampa Bay Times.
Student uniforms: The Volusia County School Board has approved uniforms for all grade levels. Specific details will be determined in January. Daytona Beach News-Journal.
New schools: With proceeds from a half-cent hike in the sales tax, the St. Johns County School Board approves the construction of three schools to be opened for the 2017-2018 school year. St. Augustine Record. (more…)
From the News Service of Florida:
Education Commissioner Pam Stewart said Monday she has selected the non-profit group American Institutes for Research to design the state's new tests for public schools, the final step in an effort to tamp down grassroots anger over learning standards.
The $220 million contract with AIR will run for six years and will be cheaper than it would have been to go forward with a test developed by a multi-state consortium that Gov. Rick Scott ordered Stewart to back away from last year, according to the Department of Education.
"I feel very confident that it is the best choice for Florida students," Stewart said in a conference call with reporters.
Scott's decision last year to distance the state from the consortium --- the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC --- was part of an executive order meant to assuage largely conservative activists worried about the Common Core State Standards.
The Common Core standards, adopted by about four dozen states, were tweaked by the State Board of Education last month. Officials have begun referring to the revised version as the "Florida Standards."
But AIR and another company that will work with it on the Florida tests, Data Recognition Corporation, have also helped to develop the Smarter Balanced Assessment. Like PARCC, that test is being put together by a multi-state consortium that hopes to use it to measure student learning under Common Core.
Stewart said the two systems would be separate.
"This is a platform and assessment for Florida," she said. (more…)
Charter schools. More could be closing in Broward. South Florida Sun Sentinel. Miami Herald.
Tax credit scholarships. Did top Step Up For Students officials need to register as lobbyists? Times/Herald. (Step Up co-hosts this blog.)
Testing. Florida Education Commissioner Pam Stewart picks AIR to develop the new wave of tests tied to Common Core. News Service of Florida. StateImpact Florida. Tampa Bay Times. Orlando Sentinel. Palm Beach Post. Associated Press. EdWeek. WFSU. Naples Daily News.
STEM. Manatee County schools focus on growing its science and math programs. Bradenton Herald.
Teacher unions. Allegations of inappropriate behavior with students dogs some candidates for union president in Pinellas. Tampa Bay Times.
Bullying. Polk Sheriff Grady Judd says parents need to be a bigger deterrent. The Ledger.
Budgets. Brevard parents hope to stave off school closures as money gets tight at the school district. Florida Today.
Textbooks. Lawmakers advance a bill that would remove the state from the textbook adoption process advances. Orlando Sentinel.
