School suspensions: Florida Education Secretary Pam Stewart is talking with school superintendents about ways to cut down on out-of-school suspensions and on the disparity of suspensions by race. Almost 165,000 students received out-of-school suspensions in the 2014-2015 school year, and about 43 percent of them were black. Black students make up about 23 percent of the state's student population. “That’s one of the areas that I think will make a huge impact and make a difference and actually improve education in Florida,” Stewart said. Politico Florida.
District's last choice: The Florida Department of Education rejects a turnaround plan for Jefferson County schools for a third time. The district now has until Feb. 16 to choose from three offered options: It can close the schools, hire an external operator or let a charter company run the district. Jefferson County has just two schools and 700 students. Tallahassee Democrat. WFSU.
DeVos hearing: In her confirmation hearing to become U.S. education secretary, Betsy DeVos says she will be "a strong advocate for great public schools," but "if a school is troubled, or unsafe, or not a good fit for a child — perhaps they have a special need that is going unmet — we should support a parent's right to enroll their child in a high-quality alternative." Associated Press.
Clay suspends testing: New Clay County School Superintendent Addison Davis suspends all district-level assessment testing, effective immediately. He says he wants to give teachers more time with students in the classroom. "This is nothing that is going to hinder their learning," Davis told WJAX. "It's just going to provide more time for our teachers to problem-solve, to have small group instruction and to work with our students one-on-one." Gradebook. (more…)
Amendments and education: State law requires a review and update of the constitution every 20 years. Republican lawmakers intend to use the opportunity to overturn the Supreme Court's decision that the school voucher program was unconstitutional and repeal the Blaine Amendment, which forbids state funds from going to religious institutions. The review will be conducted by the 37-member Constitutional Review Commission, which can put amendments on the 2018 ballot. Thirty-three of the members will be appointed by state Republican leaders. Miami Herald.
Extended days study: A Palm Beach County School District study indicates there has been little benefit to students from the state law requiring longer days at public elementary schools with the lowest reading scores. The district looked at the 58 times schools have been forced to extend the school day by an hour. In 22 cases, there was improvement in students' reading scores. In 26 cases there was none, and in 10 cases schools' performances worsened. Last year, the district estimates, the extra hour at 25 district schools cost $9 million. Palm Beach Post.
Early education benefits: Quality early childhood education is expensive but has lasting, positive effects in all areas of society, according to a new study by Nobel Laureate James J. Heckman, a University of Chicago economics professor. Every dollar invested in childhood education produced a return of $6.30, according to the study. For more than 30 years, Heckman tracked disadvantaged black children, 8 weeks to 5 years old, who were in an intensive child-care program in North Carolina. Florida Times-Union.
District cuts testing: The Volusia County School District is cutting the number of hours students are being tested. Fifth-graders, for example, will have 26 fewer hours of district assessment testing. Elementary students once were spending three times the hours taking district tests as students in neighboring Flagler and Seminole counties. Daytona Beach News-Journal. (more…)
