Monthly Archives: January 2012

Update (9:30 am):  And now a report from Gradebook Here is Leslie Postal’s post at School Zone on this breaking story. Here is the media release from the Fordham Institute, listing grades for all states plus DC.  Florida is not … Continue reading →

From a post on the Miami Herald blog Naked Politics on Arne Duncan’s visit to Tallahassee Community College: Duncan fielded questions on a variety of topics, ranging from the federal Race to the Top competition to teacher pay. On that … Continue reading →

If we want to increase the production of scientists and engineers at Florida’s universities, we will need new instructional facilities. What you see above is one artist’s conception of a STEM classroom building at FSU.  It is 90,000 square feet … Continue reading →

Take a listen to Will Tyson’s interview on WUSF. Will is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at USF.  He is the primary author of the 2007 study on STEM bachelor’s degree attainment that I quote all the time (for example, … Continue reading →

The leadership of the Florida House of Representatives today unveiled a budget proposal that would cut state funding of higher education by more than 6%, the Tampa Bay Times reports.  The plan also envisions tuition increases that would partly offset … Continue reading →

Taking socioeconomic factors into account by comparing Governor Scott’s composite FCAT score to a school district’s free/reduced lunch percentage suggests another way of assigning grades to school districts.  Take the graph of composite FCAT score vs. % free/reduced lunch I … Continue reading →

Demographics is destiny in education.  Or is it? Here’s my take on the Governor’s school district rankings – which were released this morning – showing the dependence of the district’s numerical score vs. % free/reduced lunch eligibility from 2010-2011: What … Continue reading →

Update (4:10 pm):  The staff analyses for SB 756 and SB 1366 have now been posted.  One surprise in the SB 756 analysis:  a footnote that says “Based on telephonic communication with DOE, January 19, 2012, approval of integrated, applied, … Continue reading →

Without attracting more great math and science teachers in our K-12 schools, Florida will not make any progress in its efforts to educate more strong scientists and engineers. If the Legislature is indeed able to respond positively to the Governor’s … Continue reading →

Let’s just say this about Representative Weatherford’s proposal to establish an all-online university in Florida:  You will not be able to learn science or engineering there. Insofar as the proposal for an all-online university is a distraction from addressing the … Continue reading →