Scathing Purple Musings
Color me purple in Florida ALL Week
Fort Myers News-Press: For Teachers, VAM Doesn’t Add Up
From the editors of the News-Press: Think back to a schoolteacher who had a positive impact on your life. Chances are, your choice wasn’t based on explanations of quadratic equations or whether she helped advance your reading skills a full grade level. Certainly, teachers teach. But great teachers also inspire students to look beyond the lesson plan, to see learning as adventure, not a chore. Yet,
FEB 27
Florida Democrats File Bills to Pause Exams, Accountability Regimes
From Miami Herald reporter Kathleen McGrory: For months, school superintendents have been asking the state to slow down the transition to new standards, statewide exams and accountability measures. On Thursday, the CEO of the Florida Association of District School Superintendents (a.k.a. Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee) put that request into a formal legislative proposal. The bill, SB 1368, seek
“Absurdity of Florida’s VAM Scam”
Writes Palm Coast teacher Jo Ann C. Nahirny in her column at FlaglerLive: Now fully armed with my own VAM scores, (and since I’d paid the fee to access the site anyway) I decided to compare my scores to that of a couple of colleagues, for kicks, just to see how we’d stacked up against one another. Isn’t that what any reasonable parent would do? Compare VAMs to figure out whose classes to put their
Charter Schools USA Founder Won’t Put His Own Children in His Own Schools
Writes Coral Springs Talk reporter Sharon Aron Baron: Imagine your neighbor owns a Ford dealership, however not only will he not drive a Ford, none his family will either, preferring to drive BMW’s. Now imagine this: the state is giving his dealership money because they believe in his business. Charter Schools USA operates 58 schools in several states, including Florida, for a combined 48,000 stud
FEB 26
Appeals Committee Turns Down MacDill Charter Schools USA Facility – Will State Board Overrule?
If history is any indicator they will. From Sherri Ackerman in redefinED: A charter school sought by MacDill Air Force Base in Florida has lost the first round of an appeals process. The Florida Charter School Appeal Commission on Monday sided with the Hillsborough County School District, which had denied an application for the proposed school. The case will now go before the state Board of Educat
Anti-Common Core Bill Now Has Sponsor in Florida Senate
Northwest Florida Sen. Greg Evers (R-Milton) filed a senate version today of Rep. Debbie Mayfield (R-Vero Beach) bill which prohibits the state BOE from implement Common Core Standards. From Jeff Solochek in Gradebook: A week after the Florida Board of Education affirmed the state’s commitment to the Common Core State Standards, a state senator has submitted legislation aiming to stop the standa
Has Top FLDOE Numbers Cruncher Changed Her Tune On VAM?
The Florida Department of Education vigorously opposed the release of controversial VAM data. FlaglerLive quotes chief of staff Kathy Hebda on the release: Monday, the Department of Education released masses of data in compliance with the court order, but it did so under protest. “Because these data are intended to be used in conjunction with other information about classroom practice to form a co
Key Florida Republican Superintendent Throws Cold Water On VAM
Pasco superintendent of schools is no ordinary superintendent. An elected official, Kurt Browning was Charlie Crist’s Secretary of State and was reappointed to the same position by Rick Scott before resigning to run for Pasco superintendent in 2012. He once served on a Jeb Bush task force while serving as Pasco supervisor of elections. Yesterday, he told Pasco county taxpayers to be cautious in ma
FEB 25
Step Up for Students Delivers Astroturf Campaign Ahead of Civil Rights Event
NAACP Florida Conference President Adora Obi-Nweze was critical of Florida’s school voucher program in a WMNF story about next week’s Moral Monday event when he said “it’s very critical that we get a high quality education for our children. The dollars that are being cut as a result of dollars being siphoned off from the public school district is stopping our children from being able to have a qua
Florida VAM Scores: The Most Meaningless Teacher Evaluation Exercise Ever?
So writes Valerie Strauss in the Washington Post: There are numerous problems with using VAM scores for high-stakes decisions, but in this particular release of data, the most obvious and perhaps the most egregious one is this: Some 70 percent of the Florida teachers received VAM scores based on test results from students they didn’t teach and/or in subjects they don’t teach. Yes, you read that ri
VAM Part of the “Systemic Dismantling of a Teachers Worth”
The fall-out over the court-ordered release of VAM scores belonging to Florida teachers is just beginning. Joseph E. Joyner, the superintendent of schools in St. Johns County where the state’s best VAM scores came from, wasn’t doing an end zone dance. Here’s part of the public letter he released yesterday: The creation of lists/judgments of teachers by VAM data is inherently wrong in several areas
FEB 24
There’s Political Peril in Today’s Release of Florida VAM Scores
From the Tampa Tribune: After a lengthy legal battle with a Florida newspaper, the Florida Department of Education released thousands of public school teachers’ individual value-added evaluation scores today. The scores are from teachers’ evaluations during the 2011-12 and 2012-13 school years, and measure teachers’ success by calculating student scores on the FCAT and other state end-of-course ex
The Gainesville Sun Rips Rick Scott, Calls for Pause in School Grade Formula
From the editors of the Gainesville Sun: Gov. Rick Scott should be providing leadership on this issue, but he has shown repeatedly he’s more about lip service on education than actually fixing what is wrong with it. For example, he met earlier this month with 30 school superintendents who beseeched him to delay a new grading system and take it slow in the transition to a new and yet-to-be-written
FEB 23
Jeb Bush and the Common Core Blame Game
American Enterprise Institute fellow Rick Hess remains one of the nation’s most important education policy voices. Writing in National Review this week, Hess takes a look at the reasons why the Common Core roll-out has been so problematic. Among them, this: ….it’s important to understand that Common Core has been pursued on a political timeframe, not an educational one. Whatever the technical meri
Common Core “Jerkitude”
From conservative columnist Michelle Malkin: This week’s award for Biggest Common Core Jerk goes to Missouri GOP state legislator Mike Lair. Parents, teachers and administrators who object to the government education “standards” racket — which usurps local control, impedes academic achievement and undermines family privacy — have politicians on the defensive. The only thing these Fed Ed flacks and
Are Florida Tea Party Voters Turning Away From Rick Scott and Jeb Bush?
The mostly conservative Florida opponents of Common Core didn’t like the brush-off they received from Board of Education commissioner Gary Chartrand at last week’s public hearing. Chris Quakenbush, a Florida Patriot member and co-founder of Stop Common Core FL writes: About 1 hour 10 minutes in, Mr. Chartrand begins the public comment and alerts us that instead of 3 minutes, he will only allow 2
FEB 22
Why the Florida Senate Remains the Nation’s Key Battleground on Education Policy
Writes Matt Dixon in the Florida Times-Union: The Republicans hold a 26-14 lead in the Florida Senate, which simple math will tell you means they should be able to muscle out any legislation they deem important. Politics, though, isn’t always by the numbers. In recent years, a bloc of six Republican senators has acted as a thorn in the side of the Senate’s GOP leadership, helping kill key bills. T
