Monthly Archives: February 2024

Are you a parent or guardian of one of the 26,156 Florida public high school students who took the new Advanced Placement Precalculus course this school year? If so, you owe Orlando Sentinel reporter Leslie Postal a big “Thank you!”

Posted on February 28, 2024 by Paul Cottle

The shift in Florida’s public high schools from Honors Precalculus to the brand new Advanced Placement Precalculus is happening rapidly. In its first year, the AP Precalculus course has a larger enrollment (26,156 students) than Honors Precalculus (23,181). Both courses … Continue reading →

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Chemistry enrollments in Florida’s public high schools continue to drift downward

Posted on February 26, 2024 by Paul Cottle

Enrollment in chemistry courses in Florida’s public high schools declined 1.0% this year (fall 2023 compared to fall 2022), giving a two-year drop of 2.7%, according to statistics released by the Florida Department of Education last week. Of the students … Continue reading →

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Physics enrollment in Florida’s public high schools declines 3.7% from Fall 2022 to Fall 2023, giving two-year drop of 10.1%

Posted on February 23, 2024 by Paul Cottle

Physics enrollment in Florida’s public high schools declined this year as it has in all but one year since the 2014-15 school year, according to statistics released this week by the Florida Department of Education. This year’s decrease of 3.7% … Continue reading →

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Investigative reporter Craig Patrick from Tampa’s Fox 13 News showed how bad Florida’s SAT math situation is. What would it take to improve the math achievement of the state’s high school graduates?

Posted on February 17, 2024 by Paul Cottle

After watching an investigative report on the math achievement level of Florida’s high school graduates assembled by Tampa Fox 13 News politics reporter Craig Patrick and his producer/cameraman Craig Davisson (and in which I played a role), a colleague pronounced … Continue reading →

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Florida’s 2024-25 Teacher Shortage Areas: Some good news, but a lot of bad news.

Posted on February 9, 2024 by Paul Cottle

I have some good news: Somehow, the State of Florida has solved its shortage of teachers certified in Reading and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL).  On January 17, the State Board of Education adopted (on the consent agenda – … Continue reading →

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The Florida House of Representatives has passed a bill that would deregulate child labor. Would it harm low-income high school students who aspire to enter high-salary STEM fields like engineering, computer science and physics?

Posted on February 3, 2024 by Paul Cottle

Florida House of Representatives this week passed a bill to loosen restrictions on the employment of 16- and 17-year-olds. According to CBS News, the bill would “remove restrictions prohibiting 16- and 17-year-olds from working more than eight hours when they … Continue reading →

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