No… Not Yet!!
Posted on July 6th, 2011 by Thomas Kennedy
No… Not Yet!!
“Saw this today (July 6th) at Wal-Mart… This is just too early and too wrong!” ~Thomas
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Gov. Scott’s Prized Schools Earn F’s
Posted on July 5th, 2011 by Thomas Kennedy
“I read this news today and I think “the data” speaks for itself…” ~Thomas
Gov. Scott’s Prized Schools Earn F’s
Back in January, just two days after being sworn in, Governor Rick Scott and his advisor Michelle Rhee flew to Miami to enthusiastically praise what turned out to be an F school. “We have to make sure our system does exactly what you are doing here at Florida International Academy,” said Scott.
Last week Jacksonville’s KIPP School, the site of Governor Scott’s grandly-staged signing of SB736/Teacher Merit Pay, earned its first grade: F
Rhee said: …”charter schools can accomplish things quicker and at a lower cost than typical public schools because there is less paperwork involved.”
Less paperwork? Lower cost? Charter schools use a proprietary formula to deduct profits from each child’s per pupil funding allocation. Charter students receive the same funding as any other public school student. Rhee and Scott have one thing right: charter schools and their for-profit management companies (CMOs) have found a great way to quickly rake in the cash with little or no investment.
What do you think?
Rick Scott, Michelle Rhee praised charter school that just got an F (partly)
Miami Herald Naked Politics blog, June 30, 2011
When Gov. Rick Scott unveiled some of his education policy proposals with school-choice celeb Michelle Rhee this January, they paid a visit to a second-grade class at Florida International Academy in Opa-Locka to showcase the successes of school choice.
Oops.
The school rankings are out. And the academy’s new elementary school just got an F.
Full story found here.
New Jacksonville KIPP charter scores at bottom in FCAT
Jacksonville Times-Union, June 30, 2011
A charter school that opened this year with high expectations and wealthy, powerful backers scored at the bottom of all schools in all of Northeast Florida in School Grade score.
KIPP Impact Middle, a college preparatory school, earned an F in its opening year.
“We’re disappointed,” Principal Robert Hawke said. “We fell pretty far short of where we wanted to be.”
Full story found here.
Information for this article provided by www.fundeducationnow.org
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USA Today Editorial: Education in Finland
Posted on July 1st, 2011 by Thomas Kennedy
“As I have shared before, I am not a believer that American public schools should follow practices of other schools in other developing countries. We as Americans are very unique and among many of our great beliefs and cultures is that we believe in schooling ALL children. We also fund our public schools using local tax dollars. That said, this editorial below about Finland’s public schools from a recent USA Today has some information we should seriously ponder.” ~Thomas
Education in Finland
An Excerpt from USA Today Editorial: America can learn from best practices abroad
In a 2009 international assessment of math proficiency, American students ranked 32nd, behind virtually all developed countries. In second place stood Finland, a country that also used to languish in mediocrity.
Finland, which like the U.S. funds its schools locally, does a lot of things that American leaders should consider. Among them, it starts its kids early, with state-run, high-quality day care beginning at six months. This ensures that children are ready to learn when they reach kindergarten and first grade.
Finnish schools frequently employ a second teacher in the classroom to focus on the struggling students. This allows those students to get specialized attention while remaining in the same class as their peers.
Most remarkably, Finland appears to have solved the problem of teacher burnout that plagues our system. In the USA, roughly half of all new teachers quit in their first five years. Too many of those remaining lose their passion for the profession but are almost impossible to fire.
Finland avoids this by getting the best teachers and giving them tools they need to thrive. It subsidizes the education of would-be teachers, helping to attract bright students who can begin their careers debt-free. It then puts them through a battery of tests, training seminars and internships to make sure that they are ready before they step into the classroom.
Once approved, Finnish teachers are given much greater leeway to teach, including the ability to select their own textbooks in many cases. They are highly respected in society, receiving the kind of acclaim that is common in the USA for military personnel, firefighters and police officers.
All of this has helped to make Finland a pilgrimage site of sorts for education leaders from around the world who hope to emulate its successes. The United States would do well to learn in its classroom.
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ChronicleOnline: School district earns “A” sixth year in a row
Posted on July 1st, 2011 by Thomas Kennedy
School district earns “A” sixth year in a row
By Cheri Harris, Thursday, June 30, 2011 – Citrus Chronicle
Citrus County School District officials heard some good news Wednesday night. That’s when Florida’s Department of Education released school grade information.
For the sixth year in a row, the district earned an A — as did all the county’s public elementary and middle schools.
School grades are based on results of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). School grades for public high schools will be released in the fall.
Sandra “Sam” Himmel, superintendent of schools, said she was eagerly waiting for the password to be released at 7 p.m. Wednesday to log on and see how the district fared.
“We’re excited that they’re all A’s,” she said.
The district also climbed in state rankings from 15th of 67 districts to 14th, according to Patrick Simon, director of research and accountability for Citrus County schools.
Himmel said, “We’re pleased because, again, I think the grades are a result of the work that the staff puts into it.”
Two schools, Homosassa Elementary School and Rock Crusher Elementary School, brought their grade up from B’s to A’s.
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ChronicleOnline: Building up, tearing down at local high school
Posted on June 29th, 2011 by Thomas Kennedy
Building up, tearing down at local high school
Construction moving at Crystal River
By Cheri Harris, Tuesday, June 28, 2011
CRYSTAL RIVER — What had been the largest classroom building at Crystal River High School is now part of the school’s past.
Last week, construction crews used heavy equipment to knock down the 500 Building to make room for the school’s renovation and expansion — a project that has been ongoing for a year now.
Clyde Douglas, project manager for the Citrus County School district, said the building was between 50,000 to 75,000 square feet in size.
The new two-story administration and classroom buildings are slated to be finished Aug. 1, according to Gary Goodman, a construction project manager for ACA Construction Group LLC, the building contractor doing the work at the high school. Students return to school Aug. 8.
Also set for completion as part of Phase 1A of the construction project: a new chiller building and a baseball field complete with a new concession stand.
In the main lobby of the administration building, the flooring is stained and highly polished concrete, dark gray with a wavy design of dark blue in the middle to represent a river.
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WSJ: U.S. Teachers’ Hours Among World’s Longest
Posted on June 25th, 2011 by Thomas Kennedy
h1>The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Teachers’ Hours Among World’s Longest
1,097: Average number of hours U.S. teachers spend per year on instruction.
Students across the U.S. are enjoying or getting ready for summer vacation, but teachers may be looking forward to the break even more. American teachers are the most productive among major developed countries, according to Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development data from 2008 — the most recent available.
Among 27 member nations tracked by the OECD, U.S. primary-school educators spent 1,097 hours a year teaching despite only spending 36 weeks a year in the classroom — among the lowest among the countries tracked. That was more than 100 hours more than New Zealand, in second place at 985 hours, despite students in that country going to school for 39 weeks. The OECD average is 786 hours.
Click here to read more… http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2011/06/25/number-of-the-week-u-s-teachers-hours-among-worlds-longest/
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