PEN of Florida
|
PEN Website
|
|
Play, Then Eat: Shift May Bring Gains at School
By TARA PARKER-POPE
Can something as simple as the timing of recess make a difference in a child's health and behavior?
Some experts think it can, and now some schools are rescheduling recess - sending students out to play before they sit down for lunch. The switch appears to have led to some surprising changes in both cafeteria and classroom.
Schools that have tried it report that when children play before lunch, there is less food waste and higher consumption of milk, fruit and vegetables. And some teachers say there are fewer behavior problems.
"Kids are calmer after they've had recess first," said Janet Sinkewicz, principal of Sharon Elementary School in Robbinsville, N.J., which made the change last fall. "They feel like they have more time to eat and they don't have to rush."
Read more
|
|
Florida kids see big leap on AP exams
Students rank fifth nationwide in taking, passing Advanced Placement tests
By Leslie Postal, Orlando Sentinel
More Florida high school students than ever are taking Advanced Placement classes and doing well on the exams, putting the state at the top of the national pack when it comes to preparing students for the rigors of college, according to a national report released this morning.
More than 21 percent of the state's Class of 2009 took and passed at least one AP exam while in high school, according to the report from the College Board, the non-profit agency that administers the Advanced Placement program. That compares to a national average of about 16 percent.
Florida was tied for fifth place with Connecticut in the list of states with the greatest percentage of high school seniors doing well on an AP exam. Last year, it was ranked 11th.
Read more
|
South Florida schools make the grade in national news magazines
BY HOWARD COHEN HCOHEN@MIAMIHERALD.COM Everyone's got a list at this time of year and awards to hand out: Who made the best movie? Who crafted the best album? Book of the year, anyone?
So why should schools be any different?
Sure enough, two national publications -- Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report -- have released lists, and the results are bright for South Florida, a region often on the receiving end of disappointing news when it comes to its schools' performances.
Heading to the top of the class: 20 Miami-Dade and Broward public high schools qualify to rank among Newsweek's list of the 1,500 top U.S. high schools.
Among them: Coral Gables High (No. 144) Palmetto (No. 208), Killian (No. 398), Marjory Stoneman Douglas (No. 211), Stranahan (No. 454) and American (No. 796).Read more
|
House proposes bill to up graduation requirements, phase in end-of-course tests
Republicans would like to see more spending cuts and tax breaks for business
By William E. Gibson, Washington Correspondent
February 1, 2010
The House Pre-K-12 committee released a proposed bill to up high school graduation standards and roll out a series of end-of-course exams.
The bill, if adopted, would also make a one-semester middle school civics class and one online high school course mandatory.
The big changes, however, are:
- adding geometry, algebra II, biology and chemistry or physics to the list of must-take courses. Of course, there could be "equivalents," which presumably would be easier than the regular courses.
- using end-of-course tests, both as part of a student's course grade and to replace some sections of the high school FCAT.
The bill is to be discussed at a committee hearing Feb. 17.
Here is an updated version of what we had online earlier:
Florida students would be required to take geometry, algebra II and biology and chemistry or physics and would eventually need to pass state-created final exams to pass those courses, under a bill House lawmakers proposed today.
The bill by the House Pre-K-12 Policy Committee aims to beef up the state's graduation requirements and re-focus its standardized testing program. The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test would be phased out in high school as the course requirements and new end-of-course exams are phased in.
A similar proposal last year passed the full House but died in the Florida Senate, amid concerns about cost and creating barriers to high school graduation.
The Florida Department of Education has been moving ahead to develop end-of-course exams - it will be field testing algebra and geometry tests this spring - in hopes lawmakers would pass a new law this year.
Rep. John Legg, chairman of the House committee, said the bill aims to "ake us more competitive, both nationally and internationally at a high school level."
Like other advocates of end-of-course tests, he said the FCAT has done a good job "raising the bottom up" and gauging who has reached a "minimum level of competency."
But Florida needs to push its students to take more challenging courses and needs a new to way to judge if they are succeeding in them, he said.
Florida students now must take three math classes, with only algebra 1 specified, and three science courses, with the only specification that some have a laboratory component. The bill specifies what more of those courses must be, though it also allows for "equivalents." There is already an "equivalent" for algebra 1, a slower-paced two-year course.
The proposed committee bill would replace the FCAT ninth-and-10th-grade math exams with algebra 1 and geometry end-of-course tests, and the FCAT 11th-grade science exam with the biology end-of-course exam.
The exams would count for 30 percent of a student's final grade and would have to be passed in order for a student to earn course credit.
As money was available, the state would have to develop other end-of-course exams in English, U.S. history, chemistry, and physics, among others.
An English/language arts test that could replace the 10th-grade FCAT would be the first priority, the bill says.
Read more
|
For the FCAT, a retooled approach to writing instruction
By Christopher O'Donnell
MANATEE COUNTY - Teachers call them "juicy" words, descriptive phrases like "kaleidoscope of color" that students can use to pep up their essays on the FCAT test.But too many of the same phrases appeared in some Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test essays last year, state officials said.
The Department of Education rapped 49 Florida schools, including four in Manatee, for "template writing" that may have given students an unfair advantage on the tests.
To avoid a repeat in this year's upcoming tests, district officials brought in state writing specialists to run teacher workshops. Every teacher was given a DVD on how the state grades FCAT essays.
Read more
|
Become a fan of PEN of Florida on Facebook!
Click on the link below and become a fan today!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
