ESSA questions: Florida’s latest plan to comply with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act is drawing questions from the U.S. Education Department. Specifically, federal officials want more details on how the state calculates math achievement and proficiency, how schools that need support for improvement are identified by the state, how[Read More…]
Tag: Every Student Succeeds Act
Florida schools roundup: ESSA plan, cyberattack, borrowing, pot and more
Florida’s ESSA plan: Florida has filed its fourth plan to comply with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act. The first three were rejected because they didn’t meet the standards of the school accountability system. The latest attempt, filed Aug. 24, calls for the continuation of an exemption from grade-level math[Read More…]
Florida schools roundup: Return to Parkland, security problems and more
Return to Stoneman Douglas: The first day of school at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland was bittersweet for students who lived through the massacre Feb. 14, with student emotions mixed with hope for the future but weighted by the grief of the past. “That’s something I’ve been wrestling[Read More…]
Florida schools roundup: Dueling groups in suit, recruiting teachers and more
Dueling groups in suit: Two groups of Florida’s 1997-1998 Constitution Revision Commission have gotten approval to file supporting briefs for opposite positions on the question of what the commission meant when it put a constitutional amendment on the 1998 ballot requiring the state to provide a high-quality system of public schools.[Read More…]
Florida schools roundup: Enrollment growth slows, ESSA plan and more
Enrollment slowdown: State analysts project that Florida’s K-12 public school enrollment will grow by less than 17,000 students in the 2019-2020 school year, to about 2.86 million. That’s just an 0.6 percent increase over the forecast 2.84 million students expected when schools start in August. Analysts think the state’s various[Read More…]
Florida schools roundup: Homework, anti-test lag, security, lawsuit and more
Homework revisited: A year after Marion County School Superintendent Heidi Maier ended homework for students, the school board will consider a policy that allows elementary school teachers to assign it again. Maier and other administrators conceded last week in a workshop session that some homework is necessary. But they don’t[Read More…]
Florida schools roundup: ESSA plan, generosity, image, boycott and more
Accountability plan: Florida is now the only state whose plan to meet the federal Every Student Succeeds Act standards has yet to be approved by U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. Last week DeVos gave the okay to California’s and Utah’s plans, but Florida’s second attempt to comply is still pending.[Read More…]
Florida schools roundup: Superintendent hirings and firing, security and more
New superintendents: Mark Mullins, the Brevard County School District’s chief operating officer, is named superintendent. The school board was scheduled to whittle down a list of 12 candidates and conduct interviews next week. Instead, all five board members selected Mullins as the only candidate everyone wanted as a finalist, and chose[Read More…]