Florida Education News
March 2009
Copyright © 2009 Queue, Inc.
IN
THIS ISSUE:
Florida Ranks High for Education Data Collection
Discrimination and Achievement: Impact
of Exemptions to FloridaÕs Promotion Policy
Florida Education Report Back
Issues (http://www.queuenews.com/FLnews.html)
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Go to http://www.qworkbooks.com/FL/FL.html for descriptions.
Brake
Media
(Jeff Brake, 800-329-3186 or 407-687-4828) is QueueÕs independent sales
representative for Florida. Order previews online, or contact your sales rep.,
or call Queue at 800.232.2224.
The
Data Quality Campaign (DQC) recently named Florida as one of six states in
the nation having all 10 essential elements of a robust state longitudinal data
system for education.
The
DQC report is available here: http://www.dataqualitycampaign.org/
When
researchers at the University of Arkansas studied FloridaÕs test-based
promotion policy, they found evidence of discrimination in how schools grant
exemptions. Further, they found that students who were held back a grade
outperformed those who received an exemption, Òindicating that on average exemptions
have not been granted to those individuals who would benefit from promotion,Ó
the researchers wrote.
Jay
P. Greene and Marcus A. Winters examined data for Florida third-graders from
the years 2001 to 2004 to evaluate whether exemptions to the retention policy
were applied consistently and to measure the impact of being exempted on
reading performance in later grades. The results of their research are
published in the February issue of Economics of Education Review in an article titled ÒThe
Effects of Exemptions to FloridaÕs Test-based Promotion Policy: Who is
Retained? Who Benefits Academically?Ó
ÒThe
irony is that there appears to be discrimination in how Florida schools grant
exemptions to the promotion policy, but the students who suffered from that discrimination
benefited academically,Ó Greene said.
The
researchers found that African American and Hispanic students with the same
background, skills and income status as white students were less likely to
receive an exemption from the retention policy. When compared to white
students, African Americans were 4 percent more likely to be retained and
Hispanic students 9 percent more likely.
When
researchers compared the fifth grade reading test scores for students who had
been retained in the third grade and those who had been granted an exemption,
they found that those students who had received an exemption had significantly
lower reading test scores than the students who had been held back.
ÒThe
results suggest that students who were exempted from the policy probably did
not have the skills necessary to achieve in later grades,Ó the researchers
concluded. ÒThat is, students who received an exemption seem to hit a brick
wall and make very small test score gains in the more difficult fifth grade.
Further research is necessary to evaluate whether these exempted students
continue to struggle and fall further behind their peers in later, even more
difficult grades.Ó
While
supporting an exemption provision, Greene advocates more accurately identifying
students who will benefit from exemption.
ÒSo
far, exemptions are being applied in a discriminatory way that is not
effective,Ó Greene said.
The
research results suggested another question to Greene:
ÒWe
need to ask questions about why we organize schools by age rather than by
skills or other methods. This is a question that needs to be explored.Ó
A Florida state council is recommending
that teachers and principals be required to make quarterly home visits and
weekly phone calls.
The suggestion is one of many in the just
released 2008 report of the Florida Council on the Social Status of Black Men
and Boys. (The education section begins on page 51.)
The report notes that 80
percent of black males in Florida high schools are scoring below grade level on
the FCAT, and that by one measure, only about one-third of them are graduating
on schedule. The home-visit recommendation specifically targets the
"parents of students who are earning less than a C average or are clearly
underperforming even if their grades are on average a C or better."
Among other recommendations:
-
Better
tracking of student disciplinary actions.
-
Hiring
more black teachers.
-
The
creation of voluntary orientation programs for the parents of black male
students entering high school.
Full
report
http://myfloridalegal.com/webfiles.nsf/WF/JFAO-7NJN5A/$file/2008report.pdf
The
Thomas B. Fordham Institute and the Kingsbury Center at Northwest Evaluation
Association have released a new study, The Accountability Illusion. It examines
the No Child Left Behind Act as implemented and reveals an enormously uneven
and misleading system of school accountability.
Analysts took 36 real schools (18 elementary, 18 middle) and ÒmovedÓ them from state to state (28 states in all) to see how many would make Òadequate yearly progressÓ under each state's NCLB rules. The alarming results? In some states, nearly all of the elementary schools would make AYP while in others practically none of them would. These are the exact same schools. This tells us that the present system isnÕt working.
A
schoolÕs AYP status depends at least as much on what state it's in as on the
performance of its students.
Here
is the report on how Florida's AYP process stacks up to other states:
http://edexcellence.net/accountability_illusion/Florida.pdf
In its fifth annual ÒAP Report to the
Nation,Ó the College Board, the not-for-profit membership association that
administers the AP Program, spotlights educatorsÕ quantifiable successes in
helping a wider, more ethnically diverse segment of students gain access to and
achieve success in college-level work. The report documents that, of the estimated
3 million students who graduated from U.S. public schools in 2008, more than
460,000 (15.2 percent) earned an AP Exam score of at least 3 on one or more AP
Exams during high school. This is up from 14.4 percent in 2007 and 12.2 percent
in 2003.
In addition to the national report, individual reports for all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia provide even more detailed information about AP in each state.
Out
of all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, Maryland achieved the
highest percentage (23.4) of public school students scoring at least a 3 on an
AP Exam. Maine attained the largest single-year increase in the percentage of
high school graduates who scored a 3 or higher on an AP Exam while Vermont
realized the largest five-year gain. The report highlights the six states with
the highest five-year gains: in addition to Vermont, these include Maine,
Maryland, Arkansas, Washington and Oregon.
Additionally,
Maryland, New York, Virginia, Connecticut, Massachusetts and California all saw
more than 20 percent of their students graduate from high school earning at
least one AP Exam score of 3 or higher. AP achievements for each stateÕs class
of 2003, class of 2007 and class of 2008 are detailed in the report.
Florida's
Results:
http://www.collegeboard.com/html/aprtn/pdf/state_reports/09_0467_St_Report_FLORIDA_X1a_081223.pdf
Orlando and Kissimmee
students earn $1,000 awards, engraved medallions and trip to nationÕs capital
Honors also bestowed on
youth volunteers from Boca Raton, Coconut Creek, Davie, Fort Walton Beach,
North Palm Beach, Plantation, Pompano Beach and Venice
Shardy
Camargo, 17, of Orlando and Rachel Haas, 12, of Kissimmee were named Florida's
top two youth volunteers for 2009 by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards,
a nationwide program honoring young people for outstanding acts of
volunteerism. The awards program, now in its 14th year, is conducted by
Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary
School Principals (NASSP).
Shardy
was nominated by Maynard Evans High School in Orlando, and Rachel was nominated
by Kissimmee Charter Academy in Kissimmee. As State Honorees, each will receive
$1,000, an engraved silver medallion, and an all-expense-paid trip in early May
to Washington, D.C., where they will join the top two honorees Ð one middle
level and one high school youth Ð from each of the other states and the
District of Columbia for several days of national recognition events. Ten of
them will be named AmericaÕs top youth volunteers for 2009 at that time.
Shardy, a senior at Maynard
Evans High School, led a group of 40 high school students in writing and
publishing a book about homeless people after experiencing homelessness herself
a few years earlier. ÒDuring my freshman year in high school, we lost
everything we had, and my mother took me out of school until she could find a
stable place to live,Ó said Shardy. Soon after, she began volunteering at the
Coalition for the Homeless in Orlando, and formed strong bonds with the
families there. ÒI wanted to truly help the families at the coalition and I
knew I had to inspire others to really make a change,Ó Shardy said.
So,
as her schoolÕs Beta Club president, Shardy encouraged fellow club members to
help write a book to raise awareness of homelessness. She and about 40 other
student authors went to the homeless shelter to interview 30 adults, and then
attended two workshops with University of Florida professors to begin the
writing process. Afterward, Shardy spent several months editing the studentsÕ
chapters, and the book, ÒEveryone Has a Story to Tell,Ó was published in 2007.
Since then, Shardy has arranged for presentations and book signings at local
libraries, and spoken at service-learning conferences. SheÕs now working on a
sequel and a documentary film on homelessness. ÒWe cannot stand idle as people
suffer in need of simple life necessities,Ó she said. ÒIf people do not have a
foundation, if people do not have homes to live in, they can go nowhere.Ó
Rachel, a seventh-grader at
Kissimmee Charter Academy, volunteers at a sports camp for children with
intellectual disabilities, started a student club focused on autism, organized
a walking team to raise money and awareness for autism, and serves as a bowling
partner of a Special Olympics athlete. RachelÕs volunteer work was inspired by
two cousins who have autism, and by an aunt who works with special-needs
children. ÒI have decided to make it my mission to help find a cure for autism,
or in the very least, to better the lives of affected children,Ó said Rachel.
She
started out by spending her summer volunteering at Special Olympics Camp
Shriver, and then realized that she could do more. At the camp, Rachel met a young
bowler and decided to continue working with him through the Special Olympics
unified sports program. In addition, Rachel chartered a chapter of Autism
Speaks at her school, and formed a team that has raised $700 to date for the
Walk for Autism. Despite being diagnosed recently with juvenile rheumatoid
arthritis, Rachel plans to continue her mission. ÒBecause of JRA, I have a
better understanding and sensitivity to people with disabilities,Ó she said.
In
addition, the program judges recognized eight other Florida students as
Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each
will receive an engraved bronze medallion:
Ashley
Alman, 17, of Boca Raton, a senior at Boca Raton Community High School,
co-chaired a benefit concert that raised nearly $17,000 to support the families
of two fellow students who were seriously injured in a traffic accident. The
concert was the first project of her schoolÕs Interact Club, which Ashley
founded in the fall of 2007.
Ashley
Anastasi, 17, of Pompano Beach, a junior at Pompano Beach High School, has
raised $2,500 to benefit the American Cancer Society through her ÒCookies for
CancerÓ organization. Ashley started baking and selling cookies in 2004 when
she learned that a close friend had been diagnosed with lung cancer.
Holly
Ceasar, 17, of Plantation, a senior at American Heritage School, organized a
photo-documentary project involving more than 10 schools to promote greater
understanding of people with disabilities. Holly obtained a $500 grant from
Wal-Mart to buy dozens of disposable cameras, which were used by paired
disabled and non-disabled students in Best Buddies chapters to document their
everyday activities.
Elizabeth
Doane, 18, of North Palm Beach, a senior at The Benjamin School in Palm Beach
Gardens, created ÒThe RX Tailwaggers Club,Ó a group of 12 teenagers who take
certified therapy dogs into nursing homes to bring cheer and companionship to
elderly and sick residents. Elizabeth arranged for her dog and those of the
other club members to be trained and certified as therapy pets, wrote a club
handbook, networks with local nursing homes and hospitals, and handles all of
the administrative details for the club.
Sarah
Moeller, 17, of Davie, a senior at Archbishop Edward A. McCarthy High School in
Southwest Ranches, has collected more than 250 pounds of foreign coins for
UNICEFÕs ÒChange for GoodÓ program. Sarah boards cruise ships when they return
to local ports, soliciting coins with posters, canisters, and announcements,
and then delivers the coins to UNICEF to convert them into life-saving services
and materials for the worldÕs neediest children.
Stevie
Peacock, 15, of Venice, a ninth-grader at Pine View School in Osprey, created
Project KINDNESS, which stands for ÒKids in Need Deserve New Elementary School
Supplies.Ó StevieÕs efforts have helped provide hundreds of backpacks filled
with school supplies, as well as thousands of holiday gifts, for disadvantaged
school children in Arcadia and Venice, Fla.
Katherine
Stone, 15, of Fort Walton Beach, a freshman at Fort Walton Beach High School,
has been volunteering at a local shelter for cats and kittens since she was 10
years old. In addition to devoting more than a thousand hours of her time to
taking care of cats, Katherine has organized a golf tournament to raise money
for the shelter, participated in other fund-raisers, converted an unused room
at the shelter into useful space, taken foster pets into her own home, and
recruited her entire Girl Scout troop to undertake projects for the shelter.
Brittany
Young, 17, of Coconut Creek, a senior at North Broward Preparatory School,
founded a nonprofit charity called ÒA Spring of HopeÓ that coordinates
fund-raising activities to dig wells for rural schools in Africa that have no
access to fresh water. Brittany has recruited 10 high schools and colleges
across the country to join her effort, and has raised $100,000 so far to build
three wells, a library, and a clinic in two provinces in South Africa.
Leon
County School Board
Leon
County is located in northwestern Florida. The numerous state governmental
offices associated with the capital complex and a large student population
owing to the campuses of Florida State University and Florida A&M
University provides a stable base for the area economy. The unemployment rate
is up to 5.4% as of December 2008 from 3.2% a year earlier, however,
unemployment levels compare favorably to the state and the nation. The county
has generally experienced a more moderate rate of population and tax base
growth relative to the state due in large part to the limited availability of
developable land. The local housing market appears to be performing well
relative to the nation based on lower rates of home foreclosures and loan
delinquencies. Nonetheless, Fitch believes the county remains vulnerable to
some property tax base softening. Wealth levels are modestly below-average
reflecting the dominance of government employment and a large student presence.
The
district has demonstrated sound financial management with above-average
unreserved fund balances that have equaled 11.6% to 13.9% of operations and
transfers out from fiscal 2003 to fiscal 2007. However, the district recently
used a portion of its fund balance to offset state funding cuts, and plans to
do so again in fiscal 2009. The district used $3.6 million of its reserve
during fiscal 2008, finishing the year with $16.1 million in unreserved funds,
equal to a still good 6% of spending. Also, the district retains $10 million or
3.7% in a reserve for local carryover projects and inventory which is a
self-imposed reserve that could be made available to support operations at the
discretion of the district board. The district is anticipating using $3 million
to $5 million of reserves in fiscal 2009, and has identified a number of cost
cutting measures if additional reductions in state funding are implemented.
These measures total approximately $20 million through fiscal 2010. The ability
to offset state funding cuts while retaining satisfactory unreserved fund
balance levels is critical to the future rating direction.
Overall
net debt is low equal to 1.8% of total assessed value (TAV) and $1,174 per
capita. Amortization is above-average with 60% of principal repaid within 10
years. Major capital spending is complete and the district reports no plans to
issue additional debt. The district has identified approximately $96 million in
capital needs which focus on energy efficiency and building remodeling and
renovation that it plans to fund from sales tax and capital outlay revenues through
fiscal 2010. The district is in the process of conducting its school plant
survey that will be in effect beginning July 1, 2010.
Palm
Beach County School Dist
Palm
Beach County is one of the nation's wealthiest counties with 2006 per capita
personal income levels 51% higher than the Florida and national averages. The
economic base is diverse, balancing tourism and technology manufacturing in the
coastal areas with agriculture in the western portion of the county. In
addition, the economy benefits from the increasing presence of the biotech
industry, including the Scripps Research Institute, scheduled to open its
permanent facility this year and Max Planck which recently announced plans to
build a large bio-imaging facility near the Scripps campus. However, the
county's jobless rate for November 2008 was 7.6% compared to 4.6% one year
prior and higher than state and national rates.
Surplus
general fund operations since fiscal 2004 have enabled the district to grow the
unreserved fund balance to $98 million at the close of fiscal 2008, equal to a
solid 7% of spending and other uses. Conservative budgeting, a newly permitted
transfer of capital dollars to the general fund for property insurance and
vehicle acquisition, and a one-time $7.9 million cash infusion, the result of a
class-action lawsuit settlement, contributed to a sizeable $19 million surplus
at the close of fiscal 2008, despite a mid-year state budget reduction.
Year-to-date
performance for fiscal 2009 is in line with budget, which incorporated a $24
million state revenue reduction, and district officials expect to maintain
reserves at least at current levels. District officials expect substantial
reductions in state funding for fiscal year 2010, and Fitch recognizes that
developing a balanced budget will be challenging.
The district's fiscal 2009-2013 capital improvement plan (CIP) totals nearly $2.2 billion, down approximately $911 million from the previous plan. Revenue estimates were adjusted downward to reflect reduced capital outlay revenue resulting from slower than expected taxable assessed valuation (TAV) growth as well as the state law recently enacted reducing the capital outlay millage levy maximum from 2 mills to 1.75 mills.
Officials
report that all new schools are required to address enrollment growth and
state-mandated class size reduction will have been implemented following the
completion of the facilities financed with the current offering. A
one-half-cent sales tax in effect for a six-year period beginning Jan. 1, 2005
is expected to generate $250 million in funding for the current plan. Sales tax
receipts since inception are currently ahead of the original forecast but were
below forecast for the first eight months of calendar 2008. Nonetheless,
officials expect to collect in excess of the $560 million projected for the
life of the tax. District officials review the CIP regularly to assess capital
needs in light of enrollment growth and revenue availability.
Orange
County Public Schools (OCPS) has a new resource to help them prepare for their
high school exit exams. OCPS is piloting an online HSEE prep program that
hopped the pond last year and is steadily gaining ground in the United States.
The
program from SAM Learning of the U.K. is entirely online so that OCPS students
can use it at any time of the day or night to practice for the math and science
portions of their High School Exit Exams. The company reports that a
substantial amount of usage occurs outside of school hours suggesting that
students realize the effort they put in to using the program can pay off with
better results in school.
"Our
program is student-driven meaning that we built it first to appeal to students
and then we loaded it with content that is aligned to the state standards and
is correlated to the state exit exams and high stakes tests like the
FCAT," said David Jaffa, founder and president of SAM Learning of the U.K.
"Students are motivated to use our program to study for their tests
because they know that the time they spend using it will help them do better on
their state exams."
SAM
Learning`s approach is different from other test prep programs in two ways: it
uses a scaffolded pedagogy and it is student-driven, which allows students to
navigate through the system in a manner that makes sense to them. Teachers can
assign exercises or allow students to be self-directed and they can offer extra
credit or class credits based on completed task hours.
"For
the state of Florida, the SAM Learning program is a very good fit," said
Yvonne Fonnett, coordinator for secondary science, curriculum services at OCPS.
"We have the confidence of knowing that the math and science content is
correlated with our standards and the students can pick concepts that have been
highlighted as especially relevant to their high school exit exams."
The
SAM Learning Company is located in the United Kingdom where over 50% of all the
high schools use their product. The company began offering its research-proven
test prep programs for math and science in the United States in spring 2008.
Since introducing the product here, schools throughout the U.S. have pilot
tested it including DeWitt Clinton High School in Bronx, New York. These
schools report that the program is effective in preparing their students for
exams just as it has been in the U.K., consequently, the number of subscribers
is growing quickly.
Five
years of independent research in the U.K. showed that students who used the SAM
Learning program for over 10 hours scored significantly higher on their high
school exit exams than those who had not used SAM Learning. The research also
found that at-risk students - including those who would be categorized as Title
1 or ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) in the U.S. - showed the
greatest gains.
See
the HSEE prep program at the Florida Educational Technology Conference this
week in exhibit booth 743 or visit www.samlearning.com for more information.
About
SAM Learning U.K.
SAM
Learning U.K. (www.samlearning.com) is based in London, England. The company
publishes an online high school exit exam program for mathematics and science
that is correlated to the state standards for CA, FL, GA, MA, MS, MI, MO, NY,
PA, TX, VA and Washington DC.