January, 2012
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 Florida approves tougher FCAT scoring
 December 19, 2011|By Leslie Postal, Orlando Sentinel

The State Board of Education voted Monday to adopt a tougher FCAT scoring system for the state's standardized math and reading exams.

The move is designed to push students and schools to achieve more academically. But likely, at least initially, it will mean more students fail those sections of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.

The FCAT, a series of exams in math, reading, science and writing, is taken annually by students in grades 3 to 10 and is used to help make promotion and graduation decisions and to judge school and teacher quality.

The board on Monday adopted new "cut scores" - marks that separate failing and passing scores and determine which scores are below, above or on grade level - for FCAT math and reading.

This is the first time in a decade the state has adopted new cut scores. The change was needed this year because FCAT's math and reading exams were revised to meet new academic standards.

The move is also a short-term because the state plans to retire FCAT math and reading exams by 2015 and replace them with new tests designed to meet new "common core" standards in those subjects. The new tests are being developed by a consortium of more than 20 states.

The goal of all these testing changes, said board member Akshay Desai, is to "to continue to raise the bar for all students...to get them ready to complete globally."

State educators wanted harder standards in part because they worried too many Florida students left high school ill-prepared for college classes. The board unanimously adopted the proposal made by Commissioner Gerard Robinson.
 

Continue reading this Orlando Sentinel article here.  

 

Florida Legislature shifts focus to higher education
By CHRISTINE ARMARIO | The Associated Press 

Last year, Florida legislators made historic changes to education. Tenure for new teachers was eliminated. Instructor evaluations were revamped and linked to student test scores. And a new compensation system was passed to reward those whose students achieve the highest gains.

In the 2012 session, which starts Jan. 10, the focus is likely to shift from K-12 to higher education. Gov. Rick Scott and others say they want to find ways to make the state university system more effective and boost the number of students graduating with degrees in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

Whether the Legislature is ready to pass wide-sweeping changes to higher education is another matter. To date, no bills have been filed and several legislators said they are still researching what possible action to take. Redrawing the state's congressional and legislative districts and the budget are likely to be at the top of the agenda, and lawmakers will also be focused on effectively implementing last year's K-12 overhaul.

"I hope we can make some changes," said House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park. "But my real goal is to get the dialogue going, and then hopefully the leaders that follow me can continue that."

Scott caused uproar in academia this fall when he urged the state to look at the employment outcomes for all degree programs and pointed to anthropology as one field of study where more people weren't needed. He also touted the higher education overhaul pushed by Republican presidential candidate and Texas Gov. Rick Perry. The Texas plan includes ideas like basing professor evaluations on student reviews and how many students they teach.

Read more of this Tampa Bay Online article here.  

Florida high school grades rise again in 2011  

By BILL KACZOR Associated Press TALLAHASSEE, Fla. --

Florida's public high schools got better grades again in the second year since the state added non-test factors such as graduation rates, college preparation and participation in advanced classes to their annual assessments, education officials announced Wednesday.Seventy-eight percent of the state's high schools received an A or B in 2011. That compared to 71 percent in the first year of the new grading system when the increase was even more dramatic. Just 41 percent of high schools received an A or B in 2009.Only six high schools got an F in 2011. That was five fewer than in 2010. Education officials aren't worried about grade inflation, though."The purpose is not to try to end up with some predefined idea of how many A's is too many or not enough, but it is to incentivize and reward movements toward what is valuable in our school system, and that's outcomes for kids," said Deputy Education Commissioner Kris Ellington.Schools that received an A or improved by a letter grade will receive cash awards of $70 per student.High school grades were based entirely on scores from the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test until 2010. That's still the case for elementary and middle schools, which received their grades in June.Since then, though, the FCAT has accounted for just half of each high school's grade with the other factors combining to make up the other 50 percent.The upward trend in grades could end this year, though, because the State Board of Education has approved a new scoring system that will make it harder to pass the FCAT and the panel is considering other modifications in the grading procedure


Read more of this Miami Herald article here. 

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