Monthly Archives: April 2018

Like it or not, competition between traditional district schools and charter schools is a feature of education life in many Florida communities. Bay County’s City of Lynn Haven is one of those communities.  The city’s traditional district high school, Mosley … Continue reading →

When a Florida high school drops physics, it’s a dog-bites-man story – unlikely to get anyone other than me and perhaps a local teacher or two excited.  After all, physics enrollments in Florida’s public high schools have declined 8% over … Continue reading →

As many as four new graduates of the FSU Physics Department will be teaching in Florida high schools next year.  That’s a big number.  In the 2016-2017 academic year, only nine physics departments nationwide placed more new graduates into high … Continue reading →

I wrote the piece below on (approximately) the tenth anniversary of the adoption of Florida’s K-12 science standards and the publication of my article about my experience on the standards committee in America Magazine.  I submitted this piece to America, … Continue reading →

Polk County School Board member Billy Townsend and I are continuing a dialogue about how Florida’s K-12 system would best serve the state’s kids.  This is a response to Billy’s most recent response, “What is Algebra? And is it memorable … Continue reading →

Florida has started to turn around its student learning in middle school math, according to results from the 2017 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) released today (coverage from the Orlando Sentinel here). The state’s 8th grade math results, which plunged in … Continue reading →

Fall 2017 chemistry enrollments in Florida’s district high schools are 9% lower than they were in Fall 2015, according to data available from the Florida Department of Education. The enrollment numbers used here exclude dual enrollment courses, which are no … Continue reading →

The four instructors in the picture above have carried me through my second semester calculus-based Studio Physics course this semester.  They are (from left):  Undergraduate Learning Assistant Kirsty Scott, Department Teaching Lab Coordinator Barbara Reyes, Graduate Teaching Assistant Lakshmi Bhaskaran … Continue reading →

My Orlando Sentinel critique of the State University’s System’s drive to expand online science instruction prompted a rebuttal from Board of Governors Chair Ned Lautenbach.  Here I respond to the arguments he made in his piece. According to the Board … Continue reading →

Ned Lauterbach, a member of the Florida Board of Governors, responds to my op-ed on online STEM learning in tomorrow morning’s Orlando Sentinel. Lauterbach doesn’t actually address my arguments about boosting student learning and serving underrepresented populations.  It’s likely he has … Continue reading →