LWVeducation
Opt Out Parents are seeking legal remedies over Florida’s third grade retention policies. According to Politico, parents whose children attended the FSA testing session but did not take the test will be retained. In this article, parents are interviewed across Florida.
Is there hope for a rational testing system? Senator Don Gaetz has been a moderating voice on Florida’s overwrought testing and accountability system. He called for the reduction of the weight from 50% to 30% of the student gain scores that are counted in teacher evaluations. Then, in the 2015 session, he proposed substituting national tests like the SAT and ACT for the FSA. Since college bound students must take these tests anyway, it is redundant to have them sit for state assessments as well.
In Florida, a child does not have to pass the third grade Florida Standards Assessment (FSA) English Language Arts test to be promoted. So why call level three the ‘passing level’ when children earning a level two are promoted?
Criminal charges of grand theft, money laundering, fraud and aggravated white collar crime hit four Escambia and Pinellas charter schools. Now even more are involved in Duval. Why?
Criteria for new school grades are drafted by the U.S. Department of Education. Under this new plan, states can choose their own indicators of school quality or student success that move beyond the traditional accountability measures based on test scores or graduation rates. School Report Cards must also be made in consultation with parents. The draft document is now under review and open for comment It includes:
Performance evaluation are a tricky business. Arbitrary data systems based on student test scores turn excellent teachers into mediocre ones and vice versa. Individual judgments can also be wrong, but systems that have multiple components can be reasonably fair.
Some states are dropping student achievement gain scores and are returning to human judgment systems for teacher evaluations. Which are these forward thinking states?
It is a marathon in the Citizens for Strong Schools case.
In an Orlando Sentinel article, Scott Maxwell cites alarming state records. Forty percent of Florida’s new teachers leave within five years. This rate is 15 to 20% higher than the national average, he reported. I found a U.F. report about charter school teacher attrition. Something is going wrong. We know that. Will the legislature listen?
Florida Tax Credit Vouchers are a drain on our educational system and do nothing to solve academic problems. More and more they are beginning to look like pandering to political groups. See the League’s response to calls for ending the lawsuit opposing the vouchers. Protecting public schools and pushing for needed support is the way to solve inequities in education.
Yes, more fraud, waste and abuse that Florida must address. The Pinellas School Board voted to shut down three NewPoint charter schools today. Windsor Prep, East Windsor and NewPoint Pinellas are all involved in an indictment for fraud. Read the Tampa Bay Times editorial. The editor calls for an investigation of two other NewPoint related schools which also appear to be involved in self dealing with tax payer money.
The same charter management company is indicted in Pensacola for grand theft, money laundering and white collar crimes.