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Florida public education advocates, you are making an impact! We used our voices this week and sent nearly 45,000 letters telling the Senate Education Committee that the FSA should not be used to grade anyone. Now an annoyed Chairman Legg wants us to “stop harping.” Dismissing the real concerns of parents and professionals by saying…
by: Jeffry Solocheck|Tampa Bay Times September 17, 2015 Wariness over a recent study of Florida’s school testing system reached a new level Thursday as state senators learned that Department of Education officials had input on at least two drafts of the document. Already doubtful about the study’s recommendations, senators suggested its impartiality had been compromised.…
Our children need your voice now. Please tell the Senate Education Committee that the flawed FSA should not be used to grade anyone. The spring roll-out of the Florida Standards Assessment was an unmitigated disaster. The Legislature’s own the validity study cautioned against using this test to decide whether children should be retained or remediated.…
by: Leslie Postal|Orlando Sentinel September 15, 2015 Florida’s new standardized test should be scored tougher than FCAT, but in a way that half or more of students who tackled it likely would pass most of its exams, according to recommendations from two panels released today. The two panels — one comprised of teachers, the…
by: Meghin Delaney|Bradenton Herald September 12, 2015 Manatee County students who failed the new state-mandated end-of-course exams in Algebra 1 — about 1,300 of them last school year — have the first opportunity next week to re-take the test, a graduation requirement. But some parents were surprised to discover only last week that their students…
Illustration by Robert Rendo No one is surprised that the Florida Standards Assessment (FSA) was deemedvalid by the EdCount/Alpine study. What’s odd is that the equally important factor of reliability was not considered. Finding the FSA psychometrically valid does not address the terrible conditions under which the test was administered, nor does it resolve significant…
by: Leslie Postal|Orlando Sentinel September 9, 2015 If you want to weigh in on how Florida should score its new standardized tests, you can show up at any of three public hearings or join an online “webinar” next week. All the meetings — hosted by the Florida Department of Education — will focus on how…
by: Christina Veiga|Miami Herald September 7, 2015 The rollout of Florida’s standardized tests was so hampered by glitches that students “shut down” after having their answers lost over and over again, and others may have accidentally gotten a peek at questions a day before they had to answer them. A recently released survey of Florida…
by: Jeffrey S. Solochek|Tampa Bay Times Tuesday, September 8, 2015 Florida teachers thinking they can use their school transcripts to qualify for the state’s controversial Best and Brightest bonus system better think again. The Department of Education issued a memo late last week saying that teachers must submit an “official” record of their SAT or…
by: Kate Santich|Orlando Sentinel September 4, 2015 At Rosemont Elementary, fifth-grader Meagan Scott eyes a stack of groceries being passed out to students and beams. “My mom will be so excited,” the 11-year-old says. “They’re really helping us.” Like nearly all of the 900 students at Rosemont, north of Pine Hills, Meagan is eligible for…