VAM Margin for Error Exceeds 50%; Meanwhile, Florida GOP Senate Wants to Give BOE More Control Over School Grades
The editors of the Bradenton Herald pointed out just how flawed that teacher Value Added Metrics (VAM) based on test scores have proved to be: Florida’s teacher evaluation system bears too many flaws to be worthy of setting standards for performance pay. But the fact that the Florida Department of Education intended to seal those teacher rating scores away from the public only adds to the train w
Uh-Oh, Broward Public Schools Outperform Charter Schools
“Jonathan Hage: Please call your office.” Writing in Tamarac Talk, Sharon Aron Baron explains: Each year hundreds of parents enter their children’s names into lotteries and wait lists in hopes that their children will be one of the lucky few to be enrolled in Broward County’s charter schools. It is widely regarded that these schools offer a better education than what their children would normally
Do I Belong in the Network for Public Education?
Its called the race card. And it was dropped on me in a place I never expected, but in sad retrospection, should have. It was flattered to be asked to present at the first annual Network for Public Education conference 10 days ago in Austin, Texas. This little blog has developed quite a following for people interested in the politics behind Florida education policy. The weekend was a wonderful exp
3-9-14 Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida
Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida, red in Washington, dark sky-blue in Israel and public school in Education: Stealth Florida Charter School Ammendment Cuts Out Local School Board ControlThe zealots who carry the water for Florida’s for-profit charter schools never met an unseemly expansion of charter schools they didn’t like. Just remember their efforts the past two sessions to