A week after having ranked school districts by their FCAT results, the Florida Department of Education has created a similar list for all the schools in the state.

Critics will have no problem pointing to the list and noting that schools in high-wealth areas, along with specialty magnets and charter schools, largely top the results, regardless of county. The rankings are basic, without any weight given to the demographics. The list makers respond by saying that the numbers are the numbers, and that this is simply another way of looking at FCAT outcomes.

The Florida Education Association, the state's largest teachers union, was among those unimpressed with the new rankings. ... Read more

Since its inception, Florida's corporate tax credit scholarship program has proven both controversial and increasingly popular. The program, which provides vouchers for the state's poorest students to attend private schools, has seen its waiting list grow alongside the line of corporations seeking to contribute. So each year, Republican lawmakers have sought to expand the contribution cap, which in turn allows more students to participate. An increasing number of Democrats, meanwhile, has come to embrace the program, which serves many of their constituents.

This year, Pasco County Republican Rep. Richard Corcoran is carrying the legislation to grow the program, and he's thrown in a few new ideas aimed at further shoring up support, such as creating a path to have voucher recipients take the FCAT so the public can see if the students are truly doing better at their private schools. He's also proposed giving the state Department of Education more power to penalize private schools that abuse the system. (See his bill here.) Step Up For Students executive director Doug Tuthill said many private schools have asked for such reforms, to help prove they are doing a good job. Corcoran spoke with reporter Jeff Solochek about his legislation just before it won bipartisan support in its first committee stop in the House. 

First, why are you looking to expand it at all?

We have a waiting list in 11-12, it was about 8,000 students. In 12-13, I think it's about 13,000 students. So you have this huge waiting list. To the extent that we can get those children to be able to participate, and our extension now on our amended version only increases it by about 2,400 students over and above the additional 25 percent authorized increase to the cap. And the program is working. Studies have come out saying that similarly situated students in the public school system vs. the people who are on the corporate tax scholarship, the corporate tax scholarship has shown - albeit marginal - have shown better increases in math and English scores.

Now I saw the legislation would also allow the schools that take the scholarships to take the state assessments. I read that as the FCAT. Is that correct? ... Read more

Our story this morning on the DOE ranking of school districts included a snippet from Pinellas Superintendent John Stewart. Here is his full statement:

We appreciate the emphasis the governor is placing on the health of our public schools because quality of education is vital to all Florida residents. However, one measurement does not provide a comprehensive grading picture for a school system, much less an individual student.
 
I would compare the dynamic of this particular ranking to what happens when 5,000 people run a marathon. There can only be one ‘winner’ in the sense that only one person literally comes in first. Does that mean that the other 4,999 people who run the race are losers? Certainly not. ... Read more

Critics have been saying for weeks that the move to a tougher FCAT will be bad news for schools around the state. This afternoon, the Pinellas school board got a sense of how bad it could be. If the new standards were applied to last year’s FCAT results, 74 schools would have had double-digit decreases in the percentage of students passing the reading test, according to a district analysis presented to the board at a workshop. Eighty-one would have seen similar results with the math test, including 27 that would have plummeted by 20 or more percentage points. “This is not a prediction … but that’s a pretty good indicator,” said Superintendent John Stewart. “It’s a good warning sign to everyone.” Story here. The district's school-by-school analysis of potential impact is attached below (click on comments first).