Education: Quality of education |
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| Comparisons of educational outcomes in different countries, states; attempts to institute accountability by No Child Left Behind federal legislation and its equivalents in many American states; compromises in academic integrity associated with such programs.
12/26/08 “We've got to find him somewhere where he's going to blossom " Parent of a child in New York City reflects a common anxiety that, in entering her 10-year-old son in a middle school, she will make the "right choice" of a school that will allow him to "blossom" and be admitted to a "top" high school and college. In her search for such a choice, she stations herself in a bathroom stall and eavesdrops on what the kids are saying about the school among themselves when they don't think they are being "interviewed." http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/26/education/26fifth.html?hp
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Analysis & views: 6/5/07 Two computer companies, Intel and Ausutek, are planning to market a PC notebook for as little as $200, targeted mostly to developing countries and to children. The promotion is a called One Laptop Per Child. http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/business/business-intel.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
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Websites No Child Left: Group promoting repeal NCLB: Students Against Testing: Urban Institute: Standards-Based Reforms in Education: (abstracts of published articles and papers) http://www.urban.org/education/reform.cfm
Analysis & views: 12/26/08 “We've got to find him somewhere where he's going to blossom " Parent of a child in New York City reflects a common anxiety that, in entering her 10-year-old son in a middle school, she will make the "right choice" of a school that will allow him to "blossom" and be admitted to a "top" high school and college. In her search for such a choice, she stations herself in a bathroom stall and eavesdrops on what the kids are saying about the school among themselves when they don't think they are being "interviewed." http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/26/education/26fifth.html?hp 12/18/08 Obama picks a "reformer" as secretary of education:. Or, a media watchdog group notes, most of U.S. media would lead you to believe. His choice of Arne Duncan, chief of Chicago public system, is hailed as a progressive move, though the agenda of his Chicago "reform" is exactly that of the Bush adminstration's No Child Life Behind emphasis on tough accountability and diversion of education from public to private schools. Linda Darling-Hammond, another prospect who is a critic of the NCLB model, is castigated as an agent of the "status quo," especially of the unions of the teachers who gave Obama so much electoral support. By going against his "base" and choosing to preserve and enhance the Bush agenda, Obama is credited with a courageous, progressive choice. (Roll over, George Orwell.) http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/12/17-12 SEE ALSO, BY GREG PALAST: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/12/16-10 12/16/08 Educational progressives take note:. Chicago public schools head Arne Duncan is said to be in line for appointment of Secretary of Education. He has, at best, a mixed record on educational issues, getting high marks for the quality of his administration of Chicago schools but criticism from those skeptical about the expansion of "accountability" standards embodied in the No Child Left Behind federal educational policy. As head of Chicago schools, he presiding over the demise of "failing" schools that failed under that policy. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/15/arne-duncan-to-be-named-o_n_151251.html 12/15/08 WILL THE NEXT SECRETARY OF EDUCATION BRING ANOTHER "HOUSTON MODEL" TO THE WHITE HOUSE? Education expert fears that it will, as the heads of the school systems of Chicago and New York are among the most commonly floated names for the post. Arne Duncan and Joel Klein are called "test-crazy" bureaucrats, proponents of further extensions of standardized testing and perhaps a prescribed national college curriculum. The one true reformer in the batch of "floated" candidates, Linda Darling-Hammond, is being assaulted by the conservative press as a proponent of the educational "status quo." Will Obama include in his cabinet an official that progressives can believe in? (See the string of comments debating this issue in Common Dreams re-post of Nation article.) http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/12/14-1 11/19/08 Experts say schools in U.S. are crowding out play time and facilities for children because of over-extended academic curricula. http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/nov/19/save-play-time-experts-plead/ 11/19/08 Massachusetts seeking to incorporate more tests of "critical thinking" is its assessement tests for state students. http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/11/19/mcas_testing_may_expand/ 9/1/08 U.S. schools are having to deal with an increasing number of poor students needing special services while their resources for providing these resources are declining. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/01/education/01school.html?th&emc=th 8/25/08 Backlash in U.S. to stringency of "accountability" pressuring students to high academic performance is creating a widespread movement to eliminate or reduce the amount of homework that kids carry home in their backpacks. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5963962.html 7/11/08 Instructors at Antioch College in Ohio, temporarily closed because of financial problems, are continuing to teach at area coffee houses and other unofficial venues. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/ANTIOCH_CLOSING?SITE=MOSTP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT 4/14/08 Texas legislators looking at improvement in standardized test scores rather than the level of these scores as the basis of judging schools' performances. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5698138.html 3/27/08 U.S. Department of Education officials hold forum in Annapolis and tell participants there will be "no flexibility" in requirement that No Child Left Behind goals be met by 2014. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/education/bal-md.ar.simon27mar27,0,5508691.story 3/7/08 Houston school officials protesting the state's "Robin Hood law" which requires that funds collected in relatively wealthy districts be transferred to relatively poor ones. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/5600295.html 1/30/08 Maryland educators are demanding better information on how much the state has been able to assist low-achieving students. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.thornton30jan30,0,5426967.story 1/8/07 "I know No Child Left Behind has worked "...says President Bush, but professional educators and many Democrats in Congress beg to differ, and prospects of a re-authorization of the Education Law during 2008 dim as Bush promises to veto any bill that represents a retreat from the "accountability" feature of the legislation. 12/23/07 “You don't make a hog fatter by weighing it" ...is John Edwards' crack about the No Child Left Behind education act, with its emphasis on measurement of student performance and distribution of sanctions based on results. His is but one of a flood of such negative statements by Democratic presidential candidates, no doubt hoping to appeal to the nation's teachers who are generally extremely critical of NCLB, the renewal of which is now very much in doubt. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/23/us/politics/23child.html?th&emc=th 10/16/07 Thousands of U.S. schools, including 1,000 in California, face prospect of closing as "chronic failures" in achieving No Child Left Behind standards. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/16/education/16child.html?hp 10/16/07 "Poor results" noted in first statewide administration of a science test in Massachusetts. 10/10/07 It used to be said that students avoided learning in their pre-occupation with "making the grade." Now, says Bob Herbert, U.S. schools, under the pressure of high stakes testing mandated by No Child Left Behind, are manipulating test results rather than engaging in signficant educational reform http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/10/09/4422/ 10/7/07 Paul Street: The mantra of "our schools must do better"must address a couple of causes of failure of education of the nation's disadvantaged: The focus on educational technology and the "high stakes testing" system in the schools is like trying to "clear the air from one side of a screen door." Education will only improve when the country addresses social reforms that deal with the fundamental inequalities that children take to school with them, and when the corporatized dependence on standardized testing designed to create "robots" for the workforce is replaced by genuinely educational education. http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=35&ItemID=13974 10/1/07 Some Washington D.C. educators are bucking the national trend:. Superintendents in several suburbian Virginia counties support the idea of national standardized testing when No Child Left Behind is re-written. 9/14/07 "The mania of obsessive testing " Lawrence Kozol, entering the 67th day of his partial fast to demand major changes in the No Child Left Behind Law, describes what he sees as the destruction of inner-city schools by the flight therefrom of their best and brightest teachers, their talent and commitment worn down by the demands of "teaching to the test." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-kozol/why-i-am-fasting-an-expl_b_63622.html 9/11/07 In a Christian Science Monitor analysis sure to draw criticism from professional educators, it is noted that most of the highest rated public schools in the U.S. are located below the Mason-Dixon line, many of them in Miami for example. The Monitor begins to assess this unlikely result, and suggests that such "villains" as "Governor" George Bush of Texas may deserve some credit for this result. (As a first installment on this criticism, it might be noted that these "ratings" are based largely on the very "No Child Left Behind" standardized testing system about which those "professional educators" are so incensed.) http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0911/p01s06-ussc.html?page=1 6/24/07 School testing fraud cases are proliferating on Long Island and across New York state. http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-litest0624,0,1972027.story?coll=ny-linews-headlines 6/6/07 School officials in New York state are dealing with a perceived statewide problem of lax security for the state's Regents exams. http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-liaudi0606,0,5716752.story?coll=ny-linews-headlines 6/1/07 Education writer on No Child Left Behind: The question is not how to save NCLB so it can improve our schools; the question is how to save our schools from NCLB, which was never really intended to improve the quality of public education, but to eliminate it in favor of private schools. http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2007/05/opposing_view_t.html#more 5/29/07 Maryland will implement full-day kindergartens for the first time in the fall of 2007 5/11/07 Who is accountable to whom for the quality of U.S. education? The "noble idea" behind the No Child Left Behind education law was that quality education would be available without discrimination to Americans of all ethnicities and social classes. As the law has operated, the system for punishing "failiing" schools for the performances of their students on standardized tests has worked against that goal, as schools can "pass" only if they limit access of lesser-performing students. What is needed instead is a "Marshall Plan" for education, a massive federal commitment to investment in education, especially for poor and for ethnic minorities http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070521/darling-hammond 5/11/07 Philadelphia Inquirer reporters give essentially favorable report cards to local schools for their innovative ways of trying to meet the mandates of No Child Left Behind. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/education/20070325_Against_the_Odds__Success.html 4/28/07 Credentialism and a disengagement compact between professors and students: two of the indications of college education "crisis" explored in a book, Ivory Tower Blues, published by University of Toronto Press. http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=e779581b-aa6b-4226-b645-e1edb767c0c3 4/13/07 Maine Governor proposes cut in school funding because of revenue shortfall and the victims are the usual suspects: sports, band and drama clubs http://www.bangordailynews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=148659&zoneid=500 4/7/07 Boston pre-schools get a report card, and the grades are not good. 3/15/07 No Child Left Behind may be left behind by 110th Congress: As renewal of the Education Act is being considered by Congress, key GOP legislators sign on to amendments that would allow states to "opt out" of participation in the unpopular program. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/14/AR2007031402741.html?referrer=email 3/14/07 NChild Left Behind: A "rhetorically brilliant" label for defective legislation. As Congress considers renewal of an Education Act that is universally recognized as unrealistic in its aspirations, it is politically difficult to make changes that appear to put the reformer on the side of restricted educational opportunities for children. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/13/AR2007031301781.html?referrer=email 3/5/07 Space-stressed schools in suburban Baltimore mean that gyms have to be used for classes and are not available for the increased amount of physical fitness being mandated by Maryland legislature. 3/1/07 Budget crunch in Detroit may result in closing of 40 of 232 public school buildings by mid-2008. http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070301/SCHOOLS/703010395/1003/METRO 1/8/07 Incoming Washington D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty joins the growing list of big city mayors throughout the country who have either taken over control of the city's school system or are threatening to do so, citing dismal statistics on the failure of those systems under elected school board control. 12/17/06 "High powered" panel of American education experts propose a revolutionary approach to education reform, including such provisions as putting children in college after the 10th grade and establishing universal pre-K. http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1215/p01s01-ussc.html 12/17/06 Some D.C.-area elementary schools are going international, as schools sign on to an IB (International Baccalaureate) program designed to promote world awareness (and access to elite colleges.) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/16/AR2006121600954.html?referrer=email 12/12/06 St. Louis public school system is under fire for alleged failures to prepare students for their post-high school careers and the school board is taking a lackluster approach to dealing with the problems. http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/education/story/OpenDocument 12/10/06 Mississippi education funding difficulties continue as state's schools appeal for full funding of its mandated programs. http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061210/NEWS01/612100307 10/5/06 Professionals in higher education are highly critical of the U.S. Education Department's recommendation that colleges and universities use standardized testing devices to insure their quality accountability. http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/3721 8/29/06 Wisconsin schools are under the gun from national educational establishment for alleged failure in maintaining standards of accountability. State officials claim they are doing well, just don't fit very comfortably with the practices of No Child Left Behind. http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=488705 8/11/06 Federal commission empanelled by Education Secretary Margaret Spellings gives the boss what she wants: recommendation that colleges and universities be held to higher standards of accountability for their graduation rates and standardized testing to assess the quality of their teaching. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/11/education/11educ.html?th&emc=th 8/4/06 Utah high school students will have to take more language arts, science and math to graduate; critics note they restrict elective opportunities like music. Oh yes, remember history, that which "nobody knows" today? That's one of those lost "electives." http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,640199896,00.html 8/3/06 What's to determine when a charter school is "failing?" This issue is highlighted by consideration of closing a charter school in Milwaukee, the Truth Institute for Leadership and Service school. http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=479571 7/13/06 No College Student Left Alone: commission on higher education appointed by U.S. Education Secretary, whose chairman pioneered No Child Left Behind in Texas, may be set to propose a national "tracking" system for college students supposedly to improve "accountability" of colleges and universities for graduating their students, but opening up the possibility of a database that violates student privacy. http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060713/LOCAL/207130317/1078 7/7/06 Broke and better fix it: U.S. Education Department decrees that 40 states face possible loss of federal funding because of inadquate performance under No Child Left Behind standards. http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/N/NO_CHILD_STATES?SI2006-07-06-18-35-27 4/13/06 Eleven Baltimore schools are "saved" for a year from outside takeover because they failed to meet testing standards of No Child Left Behind and state accountability mandates: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-te.md.schools12apr12,0,4027872.story?coll=bal-mdpolitics-headlines 4/11/06 Duelling "non-partisan" educational research centers fight it out over education effects of No Child Left Behind: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/10/AR2006041001044.html?referrer=email 4/9/06 In Minnesota, College Board and its contractor affiliate are sued in class action suit on mistakes in scoring S.A.T. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/09/us/09sat.html?th&emc=th 4/5/06 No Child Left Behind has adverse effects on rural schools and students: http://www.paysonroundup.com/section/opinion/story/22820 3/26/06 American schools are cutting back on other subjects to push math and reading because of federal "accountability" standards of NCLB: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/26/education/26child.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin 3/14/06 College Board acknowledges that additional "scoring errors" on SAT tests may be found: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/14/education/14sat.html?th&emc=th 3/7/06 Mistakes in scoring of SAT test results raise new qualms about high-stakes testing practices: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/10/education/10sat.html?th&emc=th College Board minimizes damages: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/09/AR2006030902169.html?referrer=email 2/26/06 Demands for accountability of colleges for the learning of students won't go away by opposing standardized testing (opinion): http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/26/opinion/26sun3.html?th&emc=th 2/25/06 Basketball is the curriculum at some schools, and NCAA has done little to address the matter: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/25/sports/ncaabasketball/25preps.html?hp&ex=1140930000&en= c338c52b380c9d61&ei=5094&partner=homepage 2/22/06 Education secretary defends No Child Left Behind 2/9/06 Accountability standards make school life difficult for 10th graders: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/06/AR2006020601581.html
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Analysis & views: 9/4/08 In Florida, the most important result of the November election may have occurred before the November election: The state's Supreme Court takes out its little ax and cuts down three contentious constitutional amendments referred to the November election by the state's taxation and budget commission. Amendment 5, the "swap" of lowered property taxes for raised sales ones, was knocked down because the Court felt the wording of the amendment obscured for voters exactly the nature of that for which they would be voting. School-related amendments (7 and 9) mandating increased vouchers for private schooling and a percentage of school funding to be used directly in classrooms were rejected on grounds that the commission was using its "taxation and budget" mandate to legislate what they thought were desirable changes in school policy. http://www.gainesville.com/article/20080903/NEWS/809040247/1034&title=Fla__high_court 8/27/08 Florida's high school students perform considerably below the national average for SAT scores associated with college entrance. http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/aug/27/me-florida-sat-scores-trail-nations/ 8/19/08 De-emphasis on FCAT testing is a feature of the school year that has just started in Florida. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2008/08/17/a1a_fcatfrenzy_0818.html 7/24/08 How good are Florida schools at graduating their high school students? Depends on whom you ask. National studies rank Florida near the bottom among states in their graduation rates. State Education Department statisticians say this is because of a flaw in national rankings and their own stats indicate much better performance. A study just released by Leroy Collins Institute at FSU in turn criticizes the counting methodology of the Education Department. THE LEROY COLLINS REPORT: http://collinsinstitute.fsu.edu/research 7/9/08
4/19/08 What will Florida kids be learning in school? More social studies? Literature? Don't hold your breath.... A contentious session in the Florida House precedes a unanimous vote for "reform" in the school curriculum looking to a broadening of the content basis for the FCAT, and/or shifting emphasis away from the FCAT as a basis for educational accountability. With legislation in the Senate of dubious likelihood and the prospect of extended "commission" deliberation, don't yet tell your children: "Brush up your Shakespeare, start quoting him now" and don't expect them to recite the Declaration of Independence. http://www.miamiherald.com/458/story/501698.html 3/30/08 Florida schools are using "creative" ways to fit the state's mandate of 30 minutes a day of physical education for students into their busy curriculum: "stretching" and "walking" count. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/education/orl-morepe3008mar30,0,6961893.story 3/20/08 Florida legislature bows to band boosters, "the most powerful lobby in the world" as one legislator puts it, in backing off from requiring physical education in middle schools instead of band. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/state/content/state/epaper/2008/03/19/0320pe.html 3/13/08 Florida legislators moving away from exclusive use of FCAT results as a measure of school performance. http://www.miamiherald.com/top_stories/story/454667.html 2/11/08 Florida schools' reliance on student FCAT scores as basis for teacher recognition is cited as resulting in cases of schools unable to fire those teachers they regard as "incompetent" on other grounds than their students' scores. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2008/02/11/s1b_skfired_0211.html 1/10/08 Florida's report card on its public schools improves, as it moves from 31st to 14th in national rankings; but its grade is only a C plus. http://www.miamiherald.com/top_stories/story/373580.html 12/22/07 Florida law mandating later school year start is pushing the first semester of the school year past the holiday break, with effects on educational quality yet to be determined. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2007/12/22/s1b_break_1222.html 12/11/07 Outside expert report confirms that Florida's 2006 3rd grade FCAT test was seriously flawed. 10/8/07 New Florida law requires 150 minutes per week of supervised physical education. Gainesville educators complain that this requirement forces them to "squeeze" the time in a school day, in some cases eliminating recess time, at which children might have a chance to develop their social skills in unsupervised play. Lengthen the school day? Well no, the teachers' union is said to oppose that and, besides, Johnny has to get to his after-school soccer practice and Sally to her ballet lesson. http://www.gainesvillesun.com/article/20071008/NEWS/710080315/1002/NEWS 9/15/07 By FCAT measurement standards, Florida high school students are terrible readers: Test results show that only 32% of Florida 10th graders are reading to their grade level. In Alachua County only 7% of black students demonstrate that reading level. (This despite the story of several days ago about "power-house" schools in Miami and elsewhere in the South with over-achieving students.) http://www.gainesvillesun.com/article/20070915/NEWS/709150332 8/17/07 Amid critics' charges against newspaper and magazine rankings of universities and colleges as "beauty contests," Florida colleges and universities grow less "beautiful" in the latest U.S. News and World Report rankings on grounds such as UF being less "selective" in having accepted more students not in top 10% of high school graduating classes. http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGB2R231G5F.html 6/23/07 Florida A&M University warned that it faces loss of accreditation unless it puts its financial affairs in order. http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070623/NEWS01/706230332 6/22/07 Florida pre-K schools are now being subjected to "accountability" standards based on the standardized testing of school readiness. 6/21/07 Florida schools nervously await state "report cards" on their latest FCAT results. Many are expected to be "terrible" since they will reflect lack of "progress" from the previous year, when scores were erroneously inflated. http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBUGHUP63F.html 6/9/07 Some Florida community college heads see possible financial "disaster" for themselves in Governor's veto of tuition increase in state's colleges and universities, fearing this might establish a legal basis for preventing them from charging any tuition. 6/8/07 Florida delays release of FCAT results in light of concern for improper scoring of last year's 3rd grade results. 5/31/07 Democrats in Florida legislature are calling for a general overhaul of the state's educational accountability system in wake of failure of accurate scoring of the 2006 3rd grade FCAT's. http://www.miamiherald.com/295/story/123877.html 5/28/07 Controversy continues to swirl around Florida Department of Education's actions in regard to mistakes in scoring on last year's FCAT tests. http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070528/LOCAL/705280326/-1/news 5/26/07 Officials of Texas assessment test company that designs and scores FCAT tests are scrambling for an explanation of what went wrong in the scoring of last year's test for Florida 3rd graders. 5/25/07 A moratorium on use of FACT to assess Florida student performance? This is one of several ideas in the wake of a discovery of a major "error" in test scoring on last year's tests. The idea is unlikely to be implemented as state education officials say we have "no choice" under federal No Child Left Behind legislation but to have a standardized testing program; so it may take a while to "fix" the program, but fix it the educators will. http://www.miamiherald.com/884/story/117991.html 5/24/07 Florida education officials say that last year's third grade FCAT tests were improperly scored, producing inflated pass rates and will have to be re-scored for purposes of comparison of test results with those of future years. http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Headlines/frtHEAD03052407.htm 5/14/07 Children's literature professor at University of Florida says that children would become "avid" readers and do better on FCAT tests if they were given more interesting material to read and if there were less school emphasis on a "points for reading" program in which children race through provided reading material to get the points. http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070514/EDITORIALS0102/705140303/-1/editorials 4/30/07 Legislature's dropping of "life management" course as a graduation requirement for Florida's high school students concerns educators that students are missing vital lessons in such areas as HIV/AIDS prevention and disease management. http://www.miamiherald.com/884/story/91111.html 4/29/07 Business of the university is business: curricula of Florida universities are increasingly being dictated by the largesse of deep-pocketed corporate contributors. http://news.tbo.com/news/metro/MGB995WX21F.html 4/27/07 Florida legislators want "world class education" for the state's students, but they don't seem too clear on what that means or how to achieve it. (Does it mean, for example, more civics instruction about "the world"; or more math instruction to help meet world "competition" with other countries that do a better job at that?) http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBK5AH201F.html 4/17/07 Head-scratcher question looms for Florida students, as those who register this week for school session starting in August must deal with question, mandated by Florida legislature, "what's my major?" http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/041407/nen_9214004.shtml 4/12/07 After intense lobbying by parents, Florida legisture backs away from plan to cut funding for gifted high school students. http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070412/LOCAL/704120362/-1/news 3/13/07 Increasing tendency of Florida's community colleges to offer 4-year degrees is coming under legislative scrutiny. http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/031207/met_8356592.shtml 3/4/07 Science fair you say? That is so pre-FCAT!! While Florida education bureaucracy forces schools to "focus" on science education, the pressure to focus actually on standardized testing is among the factors producing a dramatic decrease in mumber of state students who participate in science fairs, which promote creativity but don't seem to help the test scores. http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070304/LOCAL/70304028/-1/news 1/19/07 Consultant's report on Florida universities finds them seriously flawed, as they devote too much attention to graduate study and research as well as to merit scholarships, with insufficient concern for undergraduates and those in financial need. http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBSJ2C54XE.html 1/4/07 Florida Department of Education is holding hearings around the state on merit pay for teachers based on student performance; they are getting an earful of complaint in these hearings from those who note that the FCAT covers only some subjects and some teachers have to work with disadvantaged children. 12/27/06 Florida colleges and universities are making a major push toward expanding international education, creating a virtual "global university." http://www.sptimes.com/2006/12/27/State/Florida_colleges_look.shtml 12/17/06 Florida's star teachers may have to prove their worth: 7725 teachers are "certified" by National Board for Professional Teaching Standards but, in light of North Carolina study casting doubt on the effects of such certification on teaching quality, Florida Educational Commissioner thinks teachers may now need to show that their teaching improves students' FCAT performance. 12/11/06 Florida high school students will have choice among 440 majors, a program designed to make "school more interesting" and reduce dropout rate. 10/12/06 Whoever wins at next Governor of Florida, the intensive micro-management of educational policy that was characteristic of Jeb Bush's administration is likely to be a thing of the past. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/state/content/state/epaper/2006/10/12/a16a_goved_1012.html 8/26/06 Carrot is added to the stick of Florida FCAT acccountability enforcement; as "failing" schools are threatened with student waivers and transfers, north central Florida schools with A or improving grades rake in $100 per student in additional funding. http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060826/LOCAL/208260321/1078/news 8/10/06 Charlie Crist, former state Education Commissioner and candidate for Florida Governor, is strong advocate of FCAT, but is unable on campaign appearances to say when the tests are given or what constitutes a passing score on them. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/state/content/state/epaper/2006/08/10/a5a_CRIST_0810.html 8/6/06 Florida's funding of its educational system still qualifies it for the label of education "on the cheap," but not cheap for local school districts to which the burden of funding has increasingly been passed and which are able to bear this burden only because of (perhaps unsustainable) rises in property assessments and taxes." http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15201644.htm 8/1/06 Home schooling an increasingly popular educational option in Florida, with around 50,000 children statewide. http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060731/NEWS/607310357/1039 6/16/06 Continuing investigation of the qualifications of people hired to score state's FCAT tests turns up instances of employees whose resumes list degrees from foreign countries. 6/15/06 FCAT grades for schools are posted. While statewide scores show improvement, two high schools in Orlando are among the small number in the state receiving F grades. 5/30/06 Four years after Florida voters approved a class size amendment, the state has done little to fund its implementation. Three of the four leading candidates for Governor support the amendment, but offer little in the way of funding suggestion. The fourth (Gallagher) is opposed to implementation. http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14696401.htm 4/29/06 State Senate, in a tie vote, defeats Gov. Bush's plan to refer the class size amendment to another public referendum: http://www.tdo.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060429/CAPITOLNEWS/604290323&theme= 4/28/06 State Senate to vote today on whether to send class size amendment back to voters: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14448116.htm 4/27/06 As intrepid publisher of The Sun State Activist looks on, Florida House "courageously" passes an anti-bullying law for the state's schools: http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/042706/met_21724015.shtml 4/24/06 Trying to make the sun shine: two Democratic lawmakers sue Florida's Commissioner of Education to release identities of persons who grade FCAT tests: 4/14/06 State of Florida continues to micro-manage school curricula: legislature prepares to institute first program in the U.S. of requiring all high school students to declare a "major;" piled on top of FCAT "accountability" standards that make subjects like music, humanities and social studies irrelevant to school funding, these may spell further trouble for these subjects: http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060414/LOCAL/204140325/1078 4/13/06 Calling such information a "trade secret," company that grades the FCAT refuses to reveal identities of $10 an hour temporary workers who grade the tests: 4/3/06 New House Speaker Marco Rubio wants to "revolutionize" education in the state by developing more diverse and relevant curriculum; some Democrats agree, but point to limitations for such an agenda from Republican-supported system of FCAT-driven "accountability" standards for schools: http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060403/LOCAL/204030330/1078/news 3/31/06 Who grades the FCATs? Florida Senate Democrats wants identities of test graders to be made public: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-fcat3106mar31,0,2949197.story?coll=orl-home-headlines 3/11/06 Legislators looking for ways to circumvent Florida Supreme Court's decision that vouchers for private school students are un-constitutional: http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060311/CAPITOLNEWS/603110320/1011 3/7/06 Two Democrats in Florida Governor's race on FCAT: Davis would limit to diagnosis, not rewards; Smith would eliminate altogether: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14034808.htm 2/27/06 Bush plan for Florida schools would have students making early career choices: http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060227/LOCAL/202270348/1078/news 2/22/06 Despite teacher opposition, State Board of Education approves plan to tie teachers' salaries to results of student testing: http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060221/APN/602210905&cachetime=5
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Analysis and views: Orlando: 12/20/08 JONES HIGH SCHOOL IN ORLANDO "PAVES ITS WAY TO AN A"---AND A TRIP TO ATTEND OBAMA'S INAUGURATION. 40 students from a predominantly black area of Orlando "win" a trip to D.C. (all expenses paid courtesy Bob Mandel, an Obama fund-raiser) after one student wins an essay contest. Jones has been a chronically "failing" school based on FCAT test results; a new principal came in 2007 with a "Pave the Way to an A" agenda of educational "reform" that will probably endear Jones to the heart of Obama's Secretary of Education-designate Arne Duncan, who did the same kind of "paving" in Chicago. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-jones2008dec20,0,6161668.story Jacksonivlle: 8/9/08 531 students have requested transfer from one of Jacksonville's three "failing" high schools. http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/080908/met_316214502.shtml Gainesville: 7/29/08 First in partying, last in studying: Princeton Review grants these dubious "honors" to students at University of Florida. http://www.gainesville.com/article/20080729/NEWS/386204299/1002&title=Champion_partiers_ Jacksonville: 5/8/08 Duval County (Jacksonville) 4th and 5th graders win reprieve from FCATs required for grade promotion as the tests arrive too late for be implemented for the coming school year. http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/050808/met_276553712.shtml Orlando: 4/6/08 Trioubled lives in a troubled school:. Orlando Sentinel focuses on Evans High School, F-rated by standardized testing standards and, in this installment, follows the obstacles encountered by a teenage girl who has fought through a forest of home and school problems, only to encounter in her Senior year the ultimate obstacle: passing the FCATs, without which she can't pursue her dreams of going to college and becoming a social worker. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-evans0608apr06,0,2749224.story?page=1 Miami: 4/2/08 With over 50% of its high school students dropping out before graduation, Miami-Dade schools have one of the highest drop-out rates in the country. http://www.miamiherald.com/519/story/479391.html Orlando: 2/17/08 Orlando is asking; "Can this school be saved?" The answer is far from clear, as a public hearing is scheduled this week on the possible re-location of Evans High School, a chronic "F" performing school on the FCATs. A new reformist Superintendent has made valiant efforts to change the situation and much-improved performance scores were expected until rampant neighborhood violence drove many parents of high-performing students to withdraw their children from the school. (Orlando Sentinel special report, with many informative links.) http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/education/orl-newevans1708feb17,0,4262337.story Jacksonville; 10/18/07 Duval County School Board attempts to fire the Superintendent it hired two years ago, is threatened with a lawsuit, and now decides on a "move on" tactic that allows the Superintendent to resign, receive $275 k in salary and benefits in return for his agreement not to sue the Board. http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/101807/met_209428449.shtml Orlando: 10/2/07 Parents of students at Edgewater High School in College Park (Orange County) demand that Edgewater school be expanded rather than busing their children to an F-rated school (Evans.) Broward Co.: 9/26/07 Broward County school board acknowledges an "FCAT overload" problem in the schools, as testing anxiety places students under severe pressure. http://www.miamiherald.com/top_stories/story/250489.html 8/17/07: Palm Beach Co.: One of 3 F-rated schools in Palm Beach County acquires a donated high-tech electronic microscope, part of an effort of these schools to pull up their ratings. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-flpfschools0817pnaug17,0,3584135.story Manatee Co.: 7/31/07 Manatee County school board considers firing teacher accused of helping 3rd grade students complete the FCAT. She claims age and religious discrimination http://www.bradenton.com/local/story/110350.html Broward Co.: 6/19/07 Miami Herald tells Broward County's cautionary tale for failed efforts to get public services to those who need them: Under the provisions of No Child Left Behind, poor children in failing schools were entitled to public tutoring assistance, some 16,000 eligible ones in Broward County. 8 months after they became eligible, only 3,600 were receiving the services. Reason: the usual suspects in such entitlement programs (like CHOICES medical insurance for the working poor in Alachua County, for example): a combination of failures of school district to publicize the program, the inefficiency of the corporation hired to process the applications, a thoughtless design of the program that would require some children to go to Miami (the next county over) to get tutoring. http://www.miamiherald.com/295/story/144019.html Jacksonville: 5/13/07 Science education is getting new attention in northeast Florida schools as science is added to the subjects of FCAT testing. http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/051307/met_169562546.shtml Volusia Co.: 5/3/07 In Volusia County as elsewhere in Florida, FCAT scores for 3rd graders in reading decline, while math scores improve. http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Headlines/frtHEAD05050307.htm Hillsborough Co.: 4/24/07 Hillsborough County high school teachers protest school board's actions in planned reductions in staffing and increase in class loads that they say will imperil the quality of their instruction. http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBLTXFOV0F.html Palm Beach Co.; 4/22/07 140 Teachers left behind: teachers at low-performing schools in Palm Beach County FL are told they won't return to their classrooms next year. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2007/04/22/s1c_SKTEACHER_0422.html Tampa: 3/18/07 Some of the effects of educational accountability programs may be questionable, but in Tampa as elsewhere in Florida, there is no doubt that these programs have spawned a highly profitable tutoring industry. http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBEPDZTEZE.html Tampa: 3/13/07 Hillsborough County teachers, having already turned down participation in Florida's "pay for performance" compensation plan, are to be faced with a similar plan proposed by the county. http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBXYZYB6ZE.html Palm Beach Co.: 2/26/07 ACLU is targeting school board in Palm Beach FL County for its "dismal" performance in rate of graduation of high school students. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/pbccentral/content/local_news/epaper/2007/02/26/s1b_ACLU_0226.html Jacksonville: 1/7/07 Superintendent of Duval County FL schools says it will be a "long and difficult struggle" to reverse the trend of an increasing dropout rate in the county's schools. http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/010707/met_7192357.shtml Jacksonville: 12/17/06 Duval County's high school graduation rate drops to 60.5%, the second lowest in the state (Miami-Dade has the lowest). http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/121606/met_6848430.shtml Tallahassee: 12/17/06 Leon County buck the statewide trend and shows a rise in its high school graduation rate to 79.9%, one of the highest in the state. http://www.tdo.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061216/NEWS01/612160321/1010/NEWS01 Ocala: 12/12/06 Proud to be from Cow Patty High: students in North Marion County are beginning to win more respect from rest of county schools, overcoming their "cow patty" label, as behavioral modification approaches and improved FCAT scores begin to change the perception. http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061210/NEWS/212100359/1001/NEWS01 Jacksonville: 12/10/06 Saving Ribault...or tearing it apart? Duval County and Florida education officials have an e-mail war going on about what to do with Jacksonville's "failing" high school. State says it must make mandated improvements, county officials say they are being "micro-managed" into oblivion. http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/121006/met_6645304.shtml Groveland: 8/25/06 School in August in central Florida without air conditioning? Ask the kids at South Lake High School in Groveland. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-airconditioning06aug25,0,2549060.story?coll=orl-home-headlines Jacksonville: 8/6/06 Florida Times-Union begins a series of articles on attempt to deal with the situation in Duval County's largest high school, Sandalwood, noted in recent year for its academic mediocrity and its "culture of violence." First two parts of the series: http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/080506/met_p1sandalwoodmain.shtml and http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/080606/met_p2sandalwoodmain.shtml Ocala: 7/31/06 Marion County school board candidates are asked how they will deal with a likely 50% growth of the county's student population in the next decade. http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060730/NEWS/207300392/1001/NEWS01 Orlando: 7/18/06 State Department of Education gives "ultimatum" to Orange County: "fix" your two "failing" high schools (Evans and Jones) or face $25 million in fines. Ft. Lauderdale: 7/17/06 A Mickey Mouse curriculum at Art Institute of Ft. Lauderdale? To find out you gotta click here: http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060716/APN/607160652&cachetime=5 Jacksonville: 7/1/06 Ribault, an F-rated school in Jacksonville, requires assistant principals and teachers to re-apply for their job, offers monetary incentives to those helping to improve school's FCAT performance. http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/070106/met_22242314.shtml Tampa: 6/14/06 School district report cites an "inefficient and deficient" transportation system for Hillsborough County schools. Low pay and high turnover among bus drivers are factors in finding that 1/5 of school buses are late on any given school day. http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBRHAI5FOE.html Gainesville: 4/24/06 Alachua County school board opposes state's plan for merit pay distribution to teachers (E-Comp): http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060424/LOCAL/204240327/1078 Miami: 4/19/06 "Benign neglect" of Miami-Dade inner schools ends as communities take charge of revamping their "failed" schools: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14373634.htm
Palm Beach: 3/23/06 Grade-changing scandal hits Palm Beach County schools: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/pbcsouth/content/local_news/epaper/2006/03/23/s1b_skhacker_0323.html
St. Petersburg: 2/21/06 St. Petersburg teachers object to Board of Education's plan to peg teachers' salaries to FCAT results: http://www.sptimes.com/2006/02/20/State/Teachers_could_have_p.shtml Miami: Central High to remain open despite test scores: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/13770636.htm
Miami: 2/1/06 Parents of children in "struggling" Central High School in Miami claim the kids are "set up to fail." http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13752008.htm
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