Monthly Archives: June 2015

The Washington Post’s Valerie Strauss has discovered the Florida Best and Brightest Teacher Scholarship Program, and she’s not impressed. In her blog Answer Sheet, Strauss cites Jeff Solochek’s Tampa Bay Times article and calls the program “kooky”. Strauss also talked with Bob Schaeffer, the public education … Continue reading →

Jeff did a very nice job diagnosing the scholarship program for Sunday’s Tampa Bay Times. I have a quote in there, but it is a relief to see I am far from the only person upset about this program.  I … Continue reading →

I am generally a Pam Stewart fan. When I think of Pam, I think of the Elastic Commissioner, one of her hands holding Governor Scott’s hand and being pulled one way, while the Commissioner’s other hand is holding the hand … Continue reading →

The Florida Best and Brightest Teacher Scholarship Program, which will pay $10,000 annual bonuses to “highly effective” teachers who earned high SAT/ACT scores when they were in high school, survived Governor Scott’s veto pen this morning and was signed into … Continue reading →

As reported last week in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Florida State had a particularly rough go in the state’s performance funding model.  A look at the performance funding worksheet from the Board of Governors makes it clear in which metrics … Continue reading →

Florida State University is featured in a new article on performance-based funding of public universities in the Chronicle of Higher Education titled “Performance-Based Funding Can Be Fickle, One University’s Close Call Shows”.  I have posted excerpts from the article below. … Continue reading →

We should all be excited about the strides being made in K-12 computer science and engineering education.  But those strides should supplement – not supplant – education in math and the basic sciences. The National Science Foundation is supporting efforts … Continue reading →

Jeff Solochek from the Tampa Bay Times was right, and I was very wrong. And that isn’t even close to being the worst news. I reported yesterday that the Florida Senate had prevailed in limiting funding to the ill-designed Florida … Continue reading →

Next year, Florida will still pay teachers in part on the basis of the teachers’ own SAT or ACT scores from high school.  But because the Senate budget position on the program prevailed, the amount will not be very much. … Continue reading →

Leon County’s School of Arts and Science had yet another all-star performance on the 8th grade Science FCAT this spring, ranking 7th in the state with a passing rate of 92%.  The school has a single middle grades science teacher, … Continue reading →