In his first comments to Congress, US Education Secretary Arne Duncan singled out Florida (along with a couple of other states) for meeting the Obama Administration's goal of having strong data collection systems for tracking student performance:

Of course, how you use the collected information matters, too. And we all know Florida has received some heat for that. (Speaking of which, we get more later today, in the form of FCAT scores for third-graders who have to pass the reading section to make it to fourth grade.)

One a less bright note, Duncan also called for the end of physically restraining children who teachers feel they cannot otherwise control, as the Washington Post reports.

Florida doesn't fare so well there. Lawmakers had identical bills to ban physical restraint of students in the House and Senate this past session, but the legislation never got a single hearing.

Maybe Duncan will have better luck getting something done at the federal level than Phyllis Musumeci had pushing for such restrictions in Florida.