Teacher tests: The Florida Department of Education says a historically high percentage of people who want to be teachers are failing the Florida Teacher Certification Exam, which was recently toughened by the state. And now fewer people are taking the test, as many as 10 percent fewer for some subject areas. "We have a real crisis," said Dr. Gloria Pelaez, St. Thomas University dean of the school of arts. "This is turning people, good intelligent people away," said Wendy Mungillo of the Manatee County School District. Melissa Smith, for example. She's taken and failed the test seven times, and has decided to leave the state and get a master's degree. Department of Education officials defend the tougher exams, saying they're in line with more rigorous tests students now take. WFTS.
Minorities and AP classes: A Palm Beach County School District analysis shows an "implicit bias" is in part responsible for lower minority participation in Advanced Placement classes. Minority students with comparable scores to white students are excluded from AP classes at a much higher rate than whites. That so-called "opportunity gap" also favors girls over boys, according to the analysis. “Students who have potential, why are they not in the courses?” Deputy Superintendent David Christiansen said. “There’s a significant gap there that we want to start to close.” Palm Beach Post.
Days lost to testing: Orange County teacher Peggy Dominguez tells a Senate committee meeting this week that she loses 37 days of her 180-day school year to preparing her students for the Florida Standards Assessments tests. Dominguez teaches English at Timber Creek High School. She and others testified about the downsides of the testing process. The Senate is considering a bill that would, among other things, push all testing to the final three weeks of the school year and authorize a study to see if the ACT or SAT tests can be used as a replacement for the FSA. Orlando Sentinel. (more…)
