Why are a slew of high achievers at Matanzas High School and FPC who have already succeeded in various courses having to take the so-called Post Secondary Educational Readiness Test on top of all other tests? How many unnecessary, time-consuming tests are we going to continue to subject our students to?
standardized testing
Common Core and FCAT Replacement Test Leads “Florida Standards” To $220-Million Contract With AIR
The $220 million contract with American Institutes for Research, which has been providing tests for just seven years, will be cheaper than it would have been to go forward with a test developed by a multi-state consortium that Gov. Rick Scott ordered Stewart to back away from last year, according to the Department of Education.
In a 1st, Flagler Requires All Juniors to Take SAT, Raising Concerns About County’s Image If Grades Drop
On February 26, almost 1,000 juniors–double the usual number–will take the SAT at Matanzas and FPC, but School Board member Colleen Conklin worried that the resulting drop in average results may send the wrong message to families and businesses looking to relocate to Flagler County.
Why Florida Should Embrace Common Core: A Conservative Perspective
“I believe in Common Core State Standards, believed in them decades before they existed, and desperately want them for my grandchildren, their children and the future of this great nation,” writes Nancy Smith, the conservative editor of Sunshine State News. “If I’d been an educator, I might have invented them.”
Matanzas High School’s Surging SAT Scores Brighten Otherwise Dimmer District Results
In a tribute to the school’s SAT prep classes, Matanzas’ reading average of 502 on the SAT test exceeded state and national averages, and the school exceeded state averages on math and writing, but district-wide 2013 SAT and ACT scores remain below state and national averages, dragged down especially by math scores.
Pam Stewart Appointed Education Commissioner Amid Common Core Strife
Pam Stewart’s appointment came amid jockeying over the future of education in Florida and rumors that Gov. Rick Scott will soon issue an executive order on schools, possibly dealing with whether the state will go along with a common-core related multi-state test aimed at measuring new, national standards for learning.
Latest Education Scandal Buoys Critics Of High-Stakes Testing as Scott Scrambles
Critics of the state’s education policies are seizing on serial resignations in the education commissioner’s seat, arguing that the problem is less the person on the job than the state’s accountability system. Tony Bennett was a strong supporter of that system, adding a twist of irony to his resignation in the wake of reports that he tweaked the Indiana school report card formulas to help a school founded by a political contributor.
Florida Education Commissioner Defends Grade Inflation as Bush Rallies to His Side
In a conference call with reporters Tuesday, Bennett said it was “absurd” to believe he inflated grades to help a donor because of her political contributions to Bennett, but criticism of Florida’s education commissioner persisted.
Florida Education Commissioner Bennett Changed School Grading System in Indiana to Benefit a Donor
Florida Education Commissioner Tony Bennett and his then-Indiana employees “frantically overhauled” Indiana’s school-grading system last year (just as Florida’s was last year and this year) when it looked like one of his political contributors’ schools might get a “C,” the Associated Press reported.
Most Flagler Schools’ Grades Drop, Following State Trend, As Tougher Standards Kick In
In Flagler County, not a single school saw its grade improve and five fell back a grade, though two maintained their A rating: Indian Trails Middle School and Belle Terre Elementary. Grades would have been worse had the state Board of Education not agreed to artificially prop them up, limiting grade drops to a maximum of one letter grade.