Who's that kid?

A Panama City high schooler decided he didn't want to attend his regular school, Mosley High, on Tuesday. But apparently he didn't want to miss out on the experience, either. 

So he took a seat in nearby Bay High instead.

Transfers like this aren't allowed, it turns out. So the boy, whose name hasn't been released, got a very different type of education than the usual curriculum — he was arrested for trespassing, the Panama City News Herald reports.

At least he wasn't on the streets selling or using.

Pinellas politicians: We want more fundamental high schools

Say this for the fundamental school crowd: They're well connected.

St. Petersburg Mayor Elect Bill Foster (above left), Pinellas County Commissioners Ken Welch (above right) and Nancy Bostock, Dunedin Mayor Dave Eggers, Tarpon Springs Mayor Beverley Billiris and St. Petersburg City Councilmember Wengay Newton are all featured on a new handout that members of the Fundamental Schools Advocacy Network passed out at this morning's school board meeting - and all of them are saying they want more fundamental high schools in Pinellas.

Four Hernando schools to get new principals

BROOKSVILLE — Central High School will soon have its next principal – and so will three other Hernando schools.

Joe Clifford, currently principal at J.D Floyd K-8 in Spring Hill, will take the empty seat at Central left by Dennis McGeehan, interim superintendent Sonya Jackson announced in an e-mail to district staffers Tuesday.

Jackson last month tapped McGeehan to lead the new, yet-to-be named high school north of Weeki Wachee set to open next fall.

Clifford, 58, is a veteran Hernando schools employee who started as a teacher in 1979. His selection created a chain reaction of administrative moves, also announced by Jackson on Tuesday.

Ray Pinder, in his first year as principal at Explorer K-8 in Spring Hill, will head to Floyd. And John Stratton, in his first year at the STAR Education Center in Brooksville, takes the empty seat at Explorer.

Jackson didn’t announce who would take over at STAR and didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment Tuesday.

“I’m confident in the leadership abilities of these principals to ensure a smooth transition,” Jackson wrote in Tuesday’s e-mail.

DOE response to ACLU grad rates lawsuit: We're working on it

Late last week, the ACLU joined with some Palm Beach parents to sue the Florida Department of Education and several other state government leaders over the Palm Beach school district's poor graduation rates.

The claim: The district graduated too few students, and its achievement gap was too broad.

It's not like the state hasn't been trying to fix that, FLDOE spokesman Tom Butler told the Gradebook.

"Improving the state’s graduation rate is a major focus of the Department and we are pleased that some success has occurred in this area over the last several years," Butler said in an e-mail. "However, we still have much more work to do, which is why we have implemented new initiatives such as our Differentiated Accountability program and the newly adopted changes to our high school accountability system. Initiatives like these will allow us to build on our successes and ensure that our graduation rate continues to rise."

Education commissioner: Florida schools are pushing better career preparation, too

In this letter in today's Winter Haven News Chief, Florida Education Commissioner Eric J. Smith responds to concerns in this article that the state is too focused on college readiness, at the expense of career and technical tracks:

To be absolutely clear, the new (high school) grading system does place an emphasis on providing more educational opportunities for students, such as Advanced Placement courses. However, the article fails to mention that the new system also calls for increased career preparation for those students who do not wish to be college bound. The participation and performance of students enrolled in industry certification courses plays a major role in the new formula, giving our high schools credit for allowing their students to follow the path that best suits their interests.

Cook: New fundamental high school will get 'serious consideration'

The debate over a new fundamental high school (high schools?) is getting real interesting real quick. Pinellas board member Carol Cook sent out this email this week, in response to emails from parents who want a new fundamental high school, pronto. Here's some of what she wrote:

Before I commit to anything I think it will be important that the Board determine the long range plans for the district. I will also need to look at the data. For example I will be asking for data from our staff including the waiting list for Osceola, where the students reside to see if there is an area more heavily represented than another, what they believe the impact of additional fundamental middle schools will have on the existing high school offerings and do we have enough of the “guaranteed seats” available to those that were promised the feeder patterns through high school. There are many more questions to be answered.
 
The Superintendent has begun to have conversations with representatives of FAN and I’m confident that we will be giving the idea of a new fundamental high school serious consideration.

FAN - the Fundamental Schools Advocacy Network - plans to have a big turnout at Tuesday's school board meeting, FAN co-chair Teresa Daiker told The Gradebook. How big? Daiker couldn't say, but the group has signed up 2,200 members since September, she said.

Will Florida add virtual schooling as a graduation requirement?

It's far from a certainty, but Florida lawmakers are pondering the idea of having every high school student take at least one online course in order to graduate.

State Rep. Will Weatherford, chairman of the House Education Policy Council, told the Gradebook that the idea stems from the fact that Florida college students are taking nearly 30 percent of all their classes virtually.

"The point is to really help our students and prepare them," Weatherford said. "A lot of business -- a lot of life -- is online."

ACLU sues Florida over poor graduation rates

Florida and its government leaders have failed to provide a uniform, safe, efficient, secure and high quality education to the children of Palm Beach County, the ACLU alleges in a class action lawsuit filed today in circuit court.

The evidence? The low graduation rates at Palm Beach high schools.

"Palm Beach County is clearly not upholding its responsibility to provide a quality education to all of its students when so many of them are not graduating," ACLU senior staff attorney Chris Hansen said in a news release. "The problem in Palm Beach County is reflective of a broad national problem of poor graduation rates, and state officials must be held accountable for failing our children."

Palm Beach has had graduation rates ranging between 56 and 71 percent, depending on the methodology used. It also has seen a fairly significant achievement gap among students of different races.

A similar lawsuit filed in 2008 was tossed by a circuit judge based on a technicality.

Clark: Too soon for another fundamental high school

Fundamental school parents want a second fundamental school in place by next fall in Pinellas. And we hear rumblings that they’re going to make a concerted effort to convince the school board to start cracking. But at least one board member says it won’t happen.

Janet Clark said she’s not convinced the demand is there for another fundamental high school. “Yeah, we’ve got kids on that waiting list (at Osceola Fundamental High School),” she told The Gradebook. “But I don’t know who many are on the waiting list who are actually unhappy with where they are right now, that would really want to take a spot in a fundamental school.”

Even if there is demand, the logistics of creating a new fundamental school by next fall – or even a fundamental ninth-grade class - are huge, Clark said. And then there’s the potential disruption it would cause to students and families who, for several years now, have been forced to adapt and re-adapt to shifting school choice plans and schedule changes.

Florida isn't the only state padding its graduation rates

With Florida's latest graduation rates coming out soon, this new report from the Center on Education Policy should make you wonder how many grains of salt to take with any state's grad rates, let alone Florida's.

Florida superintendents discuss tests other than the FCAT

This morning’s conference call between Florida Department of Education officials and superintendents was a reminder that the state really is moving away from the FCAT as the end-all, be-all.

The big topic: The roll-out schedule for end-of-course exams, which you can see in this document that DOE sent to superintendents yesterday. Algebra I and geometry end-of-course exams are being field tested this year, and the plan is for the biology end-of-course exam to be field tested next year, followed by the end-of-course exam for U.S. History the year after that. “Now obviously associated with all of these is a budget that will have to get funded annually in order to be able to do this,” Assistant Deputy Commissioner Kris Ellington told the superintendents.

It’s also DOE’s plan to use the math end-of-course exams instead of the math FCAT in the appropriate grades. But that will require legislative changes. Ellington said the department is talking with lawmakers to craft language to do just that.

Poll: Graduation requirements

Does Florida need more rigorous high school math and science courses?
Yes
No

Lakeland makes list of "drop-out capitals"

The Lakeland metro area is No. 6 on a list of national "drop-out capitals" released this week by The Daily Beast. The analysis is based on cities with the lowest percentage of high school graduates.

Bakersfield, Calif. is No. 1. No other Florida cities made the list.

Florida Senate report calls for stronger science, math instruction

A new interim report from the Florida Senate Pre-K-12 Committee gives us a detailed explanation why the state needs to improve education in science and math. Kids aren't doing well on the tests we use to gauge their performance, it notes, and the rigor demanded of them isn't all that great.

The need, meanwhile, remains clear:

"The business and education communities have stressed the importance of a talent pool of [Science, Technology, Engineering and Math]-skilled students, instructional personnel, and workforce employees, all with the math, science, and literacy skills to effectively compete in a global economy."

When it comes to recommendations, though, the proposals are somewhat thin. They focus on such things as making instruction "relevant" and better training teachers to impart the material, while saying little about the specifics of math and science requirements to graduate from high school (though there is a decent conversation on the need to increase students' math and science literacy).

The critics have pounced.

St. Petersburg schools are improving, FCAT scores show

Many St. Petersburg residents think the city’s schools have gotten worse over the past five years, as a St. Petersburg Times poll revealed this week. But a quickie Gradebook rundown of FCAT scores shows, on the whole, that St. Petersburg schools have actually gotten better over that time period.

There are 38 traditional public schools, including magnet schools and fundamental schools (but not counting charters and alternative schools), that are either within the city limits or count a majority of St. Petersburg kids as residents.

In reading, 27 of them have raised the percentage of students scoring at grade level or above since 2005, while nine have posted declines and two have stayed flat. Believe it or not, that includes five of six St. Petersburg middle schools, with only Bay Point Middle failing to make gains.

Pinellas wants to overhaul dropout prevention

The Pinellas school district is gearing up to radically revamp its dropout prevention programs, with top district officials acknowledging today that current efforts are not working.

There are no details yet, but a committee that began meeting this week has been given wide latitude to "dream big" -- and told to keep student interest in mind.

"We need to be asking students, 'What would you like? What do you need to learn? And how can we keep you in school?' " Cathy Fleeger, the district's chief academic officer, told School Board members at a workshop today. "We need to think about the Burger King. Have it my way."

The committee, which includes school officials and representatives from community groups and other public agencies, is scheduled to issue detailed recommendations in January. In the meantime, it will survey at-risk students and recent dropouts.

Tennessee graduation rates climbing the fastest

Okay you snobby Gators who want to make fun of "Rocky Top." Get this: A new report out this morning puts the spotlight on Tennessee for its fast-climbing graduation rate. Between 2002 and 2006, Tennessee’s graduation rate jumped from 60 percent to 71 percent, the biggest jump in the nation, while Florida’s rose to 64 percent, according to one analysis.

Pinellas approves three charter school applications

The Pinellas County School Board approved three new charter school applications today, but not without some discussion about the need for all three. One application is for a second Mavericks high school. The other two are for new K-8 Plato Academy schools.

The board must still approve charters for all three before they can become reality. If they do, Mavericks will join a growing number of Pinellas charters that cater to at-risk high school students, including two Life Skills charter schools (one each in St. Petersburg and Clearwater) and the Florida High School for Accelerated Learning - Pinellas County Campus Inc.

"My concern is taxpayer dollars are going to these schools ... and I have yet to see the efficacy or any data that tells me how many students are graduating with diplomas," said board member Janet Clark. "I'm hesitant to keep approving these charters if we don't know that they're doing what they say they're doign."

Pinellas parents pushing for new fundamental high school

A new parents group that surfaced for the first time at this morning's school board meeting has one main goal: To get the district to create more fundamental high schools, and soon.

The Fundamental Schools Advocacy Network (FAN) didn't publicly announce its plans today, but the literature it included in an information packet says it plain: Our Goal: To drive the Pinellas County School District to open additional Fundamental High Schools for the 2010/2011 school year. The district currently has one fundamental high school, Osceola High.

This is a serious effort. Pinellas County Commissioner Nancy Bostock is a member, and the group is saavy and organized enough to have already put together brochures, "fact sheets" and information packets.

Teach them while they're young (foreign languages, that is)

Duval schools have started up a new program aimed at exposing more young students to world languages, including Mandarin Chinese, German and Spanish. High school students in those classes will help teach the lessons.

"The whole purpose of this is to excite them about languages and to motivate them," Duval's supervisor of world languages, Joanne Davis, told students, according to the Florida Times-Union. "We want it to be a positive experience."

The theory continues that if the youngsters enjoy learning the language early, they might stick with it. And that could prove to be of critical importance as Florida continues to hone its education standards to become more internationally competitive.

Indeed, at a town hall meeting in east Pasco County on Thursday night, several parents and educators talked about the need for children to become fluent in other languages as the world "shrinks." The trick is to make it happen, and perhaps Duval has found the path. Thoughts?

Miss by a minute, miss a day at Palm Beach school

If you think Pasco County's high school tardy tables are onerous, what do you have to say about the new rule at Pahokee Middle/Senior in Palm Beach County?

Beginning last week, Pahokee's principal began suspending students for a day if they arrived late to class, the Palm Beach Post reports.

As in Pasco, Pahokee's goal is to "ensure that all students are arriving to class on time and to increase the instructional time in each class." (The principal also wants to make an A, natch.)

But parents at Pahokee wonder how this new policy achieves that goal. After all, one told the Post, it seems to give kids who don't want to be in school an easy way out.

"If you tell me my kid has to stay after school for a whole month, I understand. If you tell him he has to go to school on Saturday, I understand that," Emilio Perez said. "But if you suspend him, you're contradicting what you're trying to do."

You think?

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High school dreams, and the rules that stand in the way

Washington Post education columnist Jay Mathews has a good read today about a gifted high school kid who wants to graduate high school, and the high school that's making it so hard for him to do so. Here's the lead:

"Anyone who wants to appreciate how strong a grip high school has on the American imagination -- and how clueless some school districts are about this -- should consider the story of Drew Gamblin, a 16-year-old student at Howard High School in Ellicott City.

Drew, a child so gifted he taught himself to write at age 3, craves a high school education and all that comes with it -- debate team, music, drama and senior prom.

After a series of inexplicable decisions by Howard County school officials, such as requiring him to stay in a Howard High algebra class he had already mastered, his parents decided to home-school him and put him in college classes. But Drew insisted on his high school dream."

Read the column and then weigh in. Are schools doing enough for gifted kids? Or do they just get in the way?

Shorecrest suspends students after party bus incident

In the wake of the party bus incident, the private Shorecrest Preparatory School in St. Petersburg has suspended some students, according to this letter to parents that went out today from headmaster Mike Murphy.

He wrote: Violators have been suspended, have lost privileges, have lost the right to play in their athletic contests this week and will participate in an educational program designed for them.

We don't know how many students were suspended, or for how long. The Gradebook asked and got this e-mailed response from Murphy: "If you ever want to discuss the positive contributions of the students and teachers at Shorecrest give me a call. I have moved on to more productive topics."

The St. Petersburg Times reported today that Durant High in Plant City suspended four students for 10 days for being involved in a separate party bus incident Saturday night.

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Pinellas approves another charter school for at-risk students

Charter schools in Pinellas are increasingly taking on the district's most at-risk high school students.

Without discussion, the Pinellas school board voted unanimously today to approve the charter for the Florida High School for Accelerated Learning - Pinellas County Campus Inc.

The school is slated to open in Kenneth City next fall, and will serve at-risk students in grades 7-12. That makes it the fourth charter school to serve struggling high school students in Pinellas, with applications for at least two more headed for a board vote next month.

Drunk students on party buses make a lot of headlines

The high school kids at Shorecrest Prep in St. Petersburg and Durant High in Plant City are hardly the first to hop on a party bus and stumble into both trouble and a newspaper story. This morning’s St. Petersburg Times piece is just the latest in a string of them from around the country.

Here’s one from New Jersey … and Texas … and Connecticut …

In case you missed the Times story, here's the money quote:

Michael Holcombe told the St. Petersburg Times Monday that his daughter, who is a senior, got sick at the Durant dance, though he declined to say if she was the student taken to the hospital.

Still, he said that contrary to rumors at school, "she's not in a coma yet. But she might be when I'm done kicking her a--."

An education challenge for St. Peterburg's next mayor

From this morning's op-ed by Jim Verhulst, editor of the St. Petersburg Times Perspective section:

So here's a challenge for Kathleen Ford and Bill Foster. One of you will be St. Petersburg's next mayor, and you both proudly had children graduate from the IB program at the city's namesake school. Make it your mission to raise black student achievement so that at least one-quarter of the IB students are African-American. That would roughly equal the percentage of south Pinellas high school students who are black.

Use the bully pulpit of the mayor's office to make this promise and then provide the support to make it happen by midway through your first term. Don't do this by making exceptions or changing the standards. Do it by working with students, parents, community groups and schools to prepare younger African-American kids for the challenge of the toughest high school program around.

In real terms, this means helping 30 black students or so a year rise to this high standard. Shouldn't students, parents, citizens, the city and the district be able to accomplish this much?

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Pinellas vs. Hillsborough on Advanced Placement approach

It's not exactly trash talk before the big game, but Pinellas is taking a bit of a dig at Hillsborough for its aggressive approach to increasing the number of Advanced Placement students. In this recent note to Pinellas County School Board members, deputy superintendent Catherine Fleeger notes that Pinellas boosted both its AP participation and passage rates last year, with the latter climbing from 45 to 47 percent.

"In Hillsborough," she continues, "the average passing rate is now only 38%."

Ouch! Okay, maybe we're making a mountain out of a molehill here, but there is debate to be had over whose approach to AP is best.

Pinellas school board: Exam policy WILL change (so adjust accordingly)

Okay high school students, stop bringing your germs to school. You'll still be on track for exam exemptions, even though the Pinellas County School Board won't finalize a swine-flu-related change in policy until late October.

Today, in response to uncertainty at some high schools - and complaints from some parents - the board directed Superintendent Julie Janssen to let principals know, soon, that the change is coming, and that they should proceed as if it's already in place.

"We want schools to know this is the direction we're going in," board chair Peggy O'Shea told The Gradebook. "We don't want kids coming to school sick" until the policy is formally approved.

A weekend interview with Marí Mercado, Gulf High School IB student

This past week, Marí Mercado became the center of some unwanted attention as she battled with her International Baccalaureate program at Pasco's Gulf High School over the content of a novel she was required to read — a novel she felt was too pornographic. After a few days of publicity, with sentiment split over which side was right, the high school agreed to let Marí read something else. Marí spoke with reporter Jeff Solochek shortly after the meeting where that agreement was reached.

When you started down this path with the challenge to the book, did you expect that things would turn out as they did, as far as the attention and the aftermath?

Absolutely not. I just wanted an alternate book.

When things started to grow and grow, what was your reaction?

A lot of surprise, I think.

Did you read the comments?

I decided to stay away from them.

So you didn't see or hear what people were saying?

No. Well, kind of. My parents would say what some people would say in their comments. But I just tried not to give them too much attention.

What about when you went to school? Did you get any reaction from people directed at you?

Tampa Bay area National Merit semifinalists named

You asked for it, you got it. Yesterday we posted the numbers of National Merit semifinalists, and you wanted names. Read on for the local winners.

Hillsborough leads Florida in National Merit semifinalists

The National Merit Scholarship program announced today its 2010 semifinalists, and in Florida the Hillsborough County school district had the most recipients at 53. That's nearly twice as many as the state's largest district, Miami-Dade, which had 27.

Pinellas public schools also had 27 semifinalists, while Pasco schools had four.

The approximately 16,000 semifinalists across the country now vie for about 8,200 college scholarships worth more than $36 million. The awards will be announced in the spring.

“We’re proud of our high schools,” Hillsborough superintendent MaryEllen Elia said in a release. "These students are the brightest of the bright. The fact that we have more than any other district in the state says a lot about the quality of our teachers and how our students are excelling at the highest levels."

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Legg to House Democrats: Glad you could join us

Yesterday's Gradebook post about House Democrat suggestions for Race to the Top funds - including development of end-of-course exams and differential pay for teachers in high-poverty schools - brought this swift, 3-page response (revised version here) from Rep. John Legg, R-New Port Richey, who chairs the House education policy committee.

Legg essentially asks (these are our words, not his), Why weren't Dems on board last year? He writes:

The PreK-12 Policy Committee passed legislation during the 2009 Session to reform the FCAT, create higher academic standards, and clearly define core knowledge and achievement goals, as well as establishing statewide, standardized end of course exams that ensure our students are mastering this core knowledge before they graduate from high school. 

Hopefully, education policy reform will now move forward in a by partisan manner, unlike last session, when the majority of democrats opposed these very same measures, which they are now advocating, and voted against these legislative concepts in the House PreK-12 Policy Committee.

We hear more Republicans will be weighing in on this. Stay tuned.

Florida's new high school grading system now in place

It's official: High school grades won't be based on just the FCAT anymore. We've been writing about this for oh, a year and a half now, so it's been easy to forget that the new formula wasn't totally in place until the state Board of Education voted unanimously for it at today's meeting in Miami.

The FCAT will now count for half of a high school's grade. The other half will include a slew of factors, including graduation rates, participation in Advanced Placement classes and industry certifications for students in career and technical programs.

Here's a recent look at how the new formula may affect schools in Pinellas. Here's a look at the formula in all its wonky glory.

The changes mean high school grades won't be announced in the summer any more, the Department of Education says. Expect them towards the end of the year.

Missing documents were another hurdle for Hernando School Board in Nature Coast Tech lawsuit

BROOKSVILLE — The School Board already faced an uphill battle against two ineligible students who had sued to return to Nature Coast Technical High School, an attorney told the board members in a closed-door meeting on Aug. 17.

But on the eve of a hearing before a judge, the members learned of another big problem: Student records that could have been evidence in the looming legal battle were missing. They may have been shredded.
District officials are now investigating the missing documents, assistant superintendent Sonya Jackson told the St. Petersburg Times on Wednesday.

“We’re looking into that right now so at this point I can’t share anything with you,” Jackson said.

Board member Sandra Nicholson said she’s hopeful to find out three facts: “What was shredded, who did it, and who authorized it.”

The board learned of the missing and shredded documents from board attorney Paul Carland and litigation attorney Lisa Augspurger during the Aug. 17 executive session to discuss the lawsuit by two would-be Nature Coast juniors, according to a transcript of the session obtained by the Times.

Hillsborough details its plan to turn around Middleton High

TAMPA -- The state wanted a shakeup at Middleton High last spring, and the Hillsborough County schools delivered.

That's the bottom line in a report approved last week by the School Board and headed to next week's state Board of Education meeting.

While Middleton posted gains last spring on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, it remained on a state watch list after earning its sixth straight D grade in the state accountability system. That left the district with just a handful of options to block a state takeover or conversion to a charter school.

Just hold it: Pasco's Ridgewood High clamps down on bathroom breaks

Students at Pasco's Ridgewood High School now need special permission and an escort to go to the bathroom during class.

"Last year, we had way too many kids out of class during class time," new principal Andy Frelick told the Gradebook. "If we're going to bring our grade up, we need to have kids in class, learning."

Not in the halls socializing, buying sodas, fixing their hair or any of the myriad other things that teachers complained students were doing during their so-called bathroom breaks last year.

Most Pinellas board members support ending exam exemptions

Pinellas students, enjoy those exam exemptions while you can. They may not be here much longer.

A majority of Pinellas County School Board members tell The Gradebook they support getting rid of the district’s exam exemption policy or, at the least, limiting it to far fewer students.

“I think they should take the exams. I don’t think there should be exemptions,” said board member Robin Wikle. “I believe the exams are a great indicator of whether they have memorized the material or actually learned the material.”

Florida dropouts lose $27 billion in lifetime earnings

And that's just for the (estimated) 104,000 students who did not graduate from Florida high schools in 2009, according to the Alliance for Excellent Education. The alliance, which puts out a brief like this one for each state every year, also calculates that a 5 percent increase in Florida's male graduation rate would yield $507 million each year from a combination of crime-related savings and additional revenue.

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New Gibbs High: zip ties, pepper spray

Teachers at F-rated Gibbs High told new principal Kevin Gordon that student behavior was problem No. 1. Now he and his staff are laying down the law.

At student assemblies this morning, they went over the new rules. No gum. No ball caps. No "hoochie-fied" short shorts. If your cell phone is on, it will be confiscated. If your pants are sagging, they will be pulled up with a zip tie. And if you're fighting, you will be pepper sprayed. Read more here.

Lawmaker aims to keep teens from texting while driving

Pasco high schools have grown so concerned about student safety while driving that they've required teens to attend a Safe Behind the Wheel program before receiving a school parking pass.

Now Pasco lawmaker Rep. John Legg, who heads the House Pre-K-12 Policy Committee, is urging his colleagues to take the idea a step further by banning texting while driving. He's failed to pass such legislation in the past. This time, Legg is using visuals to press the issue.

In an e-mail to all House members, Legg linked to a gruesome, graphic 4-minute video reenactment of a crash caused by a teen who was checking her text messages while driving a car. He then wrote:

" 'The right to swing your fist ends where the other persons nose begins.' ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes Supreme Court Justice.

"Currently, 17 states and DC restrict texting and driving.  Please help save lives and let us make Florida number 18 this session!"

(Photo from carenvy.ca)

In Florida, more students taking -- and passing -- AP tests

That's according to preliminary AP results released by the Florida Department of Education just a little bit ago. In 2009, for the fourth year in a row, Florida had the biggest one-year increase among all states in the number of students taking rigorous Advanced Placement exams, the DOE says. The Sunshine State also had the second biggest increase in the number of tests scored at 3 or higher on the AP's 1-5 scale.

Florida SAT scores tick up slightly

SAT scores for Florida's high school graduates inched up one point in reading and one point in math in 2009, and dipped one point in writing, according to a report this morning from the College Board, which administers the test. The slight increase comes as the number of students taking the test, which many consider to be a key predictor of success in college, rose from 98,578 to 100,179.

Attendance and grades: Should they be linked?

In Florida, schools aren't supposed to award a high school student credit for a course if the teen doesn't receive at least 135 hours of "bona fide" instruction. Districts may impose stricter penalties for excessive absences, but that's a local choice.

A Virginia school district has for years told kids that if they skip class three times in a quarter without a legit excuse, they will get an automatic F. But now, in much the same spirit as the Hernando discussion over whether to issue zero grades for failure, the Fairfax school district is scrapping that attendance clause.

"There's no hope for that grade at that point," district director of intervention and prevention services Teresa Zutter told the Washington Post. "The student says: 'Why should I try? I can't undo this mistake.'"

The district isn't giving students a free pass to skip, mind you. It's just removing the failure as an immediate consequence.

Like Hernando's grading discussion, this raises questions and probably will generate heated debate. One possible take: Virtual school takes the seat time issue out of the equation, making education about achievement more than attendance. Shouldn't traditional schools take the same approach? Anyone?

Florida ACT scores fall, again

Florida again pushed thousands of high school students into the ACT college readiness test last year – and again saw its average scores fall, according to a national report released this morning.

The number of Florida students taking the test rose to 105,297, up from 93,884 last year. The average composite score dropped from 19.8 to 19.5. The national average, 21.1, remained unchanged.

Florida now ranks No. 22 in the percentage of graduates tested, at 62 percent, up from No. 26 last year.

It ranks No. 48 (same as last year) in average composite score, just ahead of Kentucky and Mississippi and behind Alabama, Louisiana and Tennessee. All of those states have a bigger proportion of students taking the ACT.

Another sad stat: Only 15 percent of Florida kids who took the ACT met all four college readiness benchmarks (in English, math, reading and science).

Ron Matus, State Education Reporter

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Should Gibbs High become a fundamental school?

Sound like a long shot? It might be. But that has not deterred Bud Zimmer, a.k.a. Mr. Fundamental, from pitching it relentlessly in recent weeks, most recently in an e-mail to superintendent Julie Janssen and School Board Chairwoman Peggy O’Shea. “The teachers, parents and students will love it,” he writes.

At the Tiger Bay Club last week, Janssen said the district needed to look at the possibility of another fundamental high school program. But she told the Gradebook after her remarks that converting Gibbs into a fundamental school was not on the radar.

“What would you be saying to those families? That if you’re not involved, your kids can’t come here?” she said. “You can’t penalize children for their parents’ behavior.”

Ron Matus, State Education Reporter

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Rep. Fresen proposes new HS degree, FCAT standards

Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami, is proposing new credit and course requirements for Florida high schoolers seeking a diploma. The first-term lawmaker, already vying for a House speakership down the road, has filed proposed legislation (HB61) that lays out more stringently how students must fulfill their credit requirements in math and science.

The four math credits, for example, would have to include Algebra I starting with freshmen in the 2011-12 year. By 2013-14, the math courses would have to include Algebra I and II and geometry "or a series of course equivalent." And for science, two of the three required classes would have to include a lab component. And starting in 2011-12, one of the science classes would have to be Biology I. Two years later, high schoolers would be required to take Biology I, chemistry and a "higher-level science course."

The law also would require that schools advise students about Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, and career academy coursework that leads to national industry certification -- plus the availability of dual enrollment classes and the Florida Virtual School. And starting in 2013-14, the Board of Education would have to develop grade 10 passing FCAT scores that must "at a minimum meet grade-level proficiency."

DOE clarifies shift in diploma policy, but not completely

The Florida Department of Education issued a new memo this week to “clarify” its abrupt call to districts to stop granting standard diplomas for students following the “GED exit option.” But the clarification still leaves a key question muddled: Will several thousand students currently in the program be grandfathered in?

District officials in Hillsborough and some parents believe from their interpretation of the memo that they will be. But it’s hard to tell if they’re right.

DOE officials say the department doesn’t have the authority to grandfather those kids. But they don’t seem to be in a hurry to stop districts that plan on doing just that.

“If that’s their interpretation of the memo, that’s their interpretation,” DOE spokesman Tom Butler told The Gradebook. But will standard diplomas granted to grandfathered students be valid? “That’s probably a question for a lawyer. At this point, we’re just trying to move forward.”

After further review, one less D for Pinellas high schools

The school grade for Northeast High School in St. Petersburg has been moved up from a D to a C, after a review of its appeal by the state Department of Education. That leaves eight Pinellas high schools with a D and one with an F.

Statewide, 18 schools appealed their grades or "adequate yearly progress" status, and DOE accepted eight of them.

In Pinellas, DOE denied an appeal by San Jose Elementary, which earned an A grade but did not meet AYP.

In Hillsborough, DOE denied appeals by Summerfield Crossing Elementary, which earned a B, and Miles Elementary, which earned a C.

No other Tampa Bay area schools appealed.

Ron Matus, State Education Reporter

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GED change in Florida could affect thousands of students

Several thousand high school students -- and hundreds around Tampa Bay -- may be in a bind because of last week’s Department of Education decision to kill the “GED exit option.” Last year, 3,060 students statewide earned a standard diploma through that route, according to DOE figures.

Until last week, students who didn’t have enough credits or a high enough GPA to graduate could still earn a standard diploma if they 1) passed the GED test and the FCAT exit exam or 2) passed the GED test and scored high enough on the ACT or SAT.

Now those students can still earn GED diplomas but they won’t be considered standard diplomas.

Here’s how many students around Tampa Bay got diplomas through the GED exit option last year:

Pinellas: 172
Hillsborough: 301
Pasco: 79
Hernando: 35

Ron Matus, state education reporter

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Want to solve Florida's graduation rate? Kick out the troublemakers

Over many years covering graduation, we've heard teachers say that the best form of class-size reduction would be to let them choose who goes. They could reach a class of 29, many have affirmed, if they could just get rid of the 30th kid in the back row who causes so many problems.

Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Thomas suggests they might be on to something, especially if Florida is serious about improving its low high school graduation rate:

For a teacher, having one of these kids in a class is like trying to teach with a string of firecrackers going off. He becomes a huge distraction and soaks up class time. Other students get caught up in the mayhem. Followers get led astray.

Put three or four of these kids in a class and the teacher's job becomes less about teaching and more about managing the situation. ...

For lack of a better plan, we let them sit in class and ruin school for the good kids.

Your thoughts?

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