Monthly Archives: November 2012

E-mailed out yesterday: The release of the second and final public draft of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) is set for the first week in January.  In recognition of the hectic schedules in December and the approaching holidays, the … Continue reading →

The Democrat published a feature piece on Future Physicists of Florida yesterday, and posted video of Lisa Ponti’s class on its web site.  The title?  “Teachers, professors push for high-level science education.”  You betcha! Leadership is critical at every school, … Continue reading →

Inside Higher Ed has posted a summary of the situation with the negative tuition differentials proposed by Florida higher ed task force and a similar discussion in Wisconsin.

From “Skills Don’t Pay the Bills”, in this past Sunday’s New York Times Magazine: Throughout the campaign, President Obama lamented the so-called skills gap and referenced a study claiming that nearly 80 percent of manufacturers have jobs they can’t fill. … Continue reading →

From my op-ed in this morning’s Tallahassee Democrat: By building the enthusiasm of students and their families for physics and its associated fields like engineering, the Future Physicists of Florida might help steer its members into careers that provide the … Continue reading →

Leslie Postal’s Orlando Sentinel article about the fallout from Florida’s exclusive focus on reading and math for half of the state’s teacher evaluation procedure is here. That’s the “value-added”, or test-driven, half of teachers’ evaluations. The other half – the … Continue reading →

That’s a snippet from one of the three depressing stories the Tampa Bay Times published over the last several days on grads from New College, the public “Honors College of Florida.”  Their majors?  Anthropology, English, and Psychology. During today’s organizational session of … Continue reading →

From a Monday Florida Department of Education press release: Statement from Commissioner of Education Pam Stewart on Achievement Level Recommendations for Geometry and Biology End-Of-Course Assessments and FCAT 2.0 Science “Continuing Florida’s move to more rigorous standards and higher student … Continue reading →

From the New York Times‘ Thomas Friedman’s account of his conversation with Traci Tapani, the CEO of a sheet metal company in Minnesota: “About 2009,” she explained, “when the economy was collapsing and there was a lot of unemployment, we … Continue reading →

On Friday, the Future Physicists of Florida (FPF) inducted 115 12-, 13- and 14-year-olds during an inaugural ceremony that attracted nearly 400 at Florida State University’s Turnbull Conference Center. The speakers at the ceremony included FAMU Physics Department and FPF Director … Continue reading →