Monthly Archives: July 2012

Update (2:15 pm):  Kassab posted a follow-up that included a discussion with SUS Chancellor Frank Brogan.  Brogan seems to recognize the problems with online science instruction.  But he cites “some of the work being done by MIT and other top-notch schools that … Continue reading →

Given the dropping of physics courses from low SES high schools in the Tallahassee area, this statement from the National Alliance of Black School Educators (posted at the blog of the National Society of Black Physicists) should be an attention-getter: … Continue reading →

From Sunday’s Sentinel article: The passing rate for the biology-teacher certification exam, for example, is predicted to fall from 87 percent to 68 percent, the Florida Department of Education said. The rate for the middle-school general-science exam is projected to … Continue reading →

Student learning. See the Tampa Bay Times coverage of yesterday’s task force meeting and brainstorming sessions here.

From my op-ed in the June 9 Tallahassee Democrat: …standardized tests that carry consequences for the students taking them can be an important engine for improving the state’s education system.  But poor decision-making can render standardized testing destructive as well, … Continue reading →

Curriculum Matters quotes NSTA Interim Executive Director Gerry Wheeler:  “NSTA is a thousand percent behind the Next Generation Science Standards.” It seemed important to point this out after Commissioner Robinson’s comments on the subject last week, and the subsequent clarification by … Continue reading →

A video of the brief remarks that Florida Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson made at Tuesday’s State Board of Education meeting on the state’s science standards decision-making process was posted by Florida Citizens for Science blogger Brandon Haught yesterday morning, triggering a … Continue reading →

And the split might not be what you’re expecting. (See the article here) Collier County School Board Member Pat Carroll:  “There are ways to accomplish that goal without just throwing federal money at it.” The News didn’t report that Member … Continue reading →

Prominent USF Professor of Education and blogger Sherman Dorn reviews an online classical mechanics offering by Stanford University professor Leonard Susskind.  Sound odd?  Well, it turns out that Sherman is a physics insider, with a physics major daughter and some … Continue reading →

From a White House press release: [T]he Obama Administration will announce the President’s plan for the creation of a new, national Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Master Teacher Corps comprised of some of the nation’s finest educators in STEM … Continue reading →