Florida scores average grade on annual education report

Education Week and the EPE Research Center published their yearly Quality Counts report, ranking the United States based on educational systems.

For 2011, Florida ranked 11 out of 50 and received an overall grade of C+; the U.S. as a whole earned a C. Grading was based these factors: Chance for Success; K-12 Achievement; School Finance; Teaching Profession; Transitions and Alignment; Standard, Assessments and Accountability.

Sterling Lloyd, senior research associate at the EPE Research Center, said that the annual report card is based on original survey data and analysis from the research center itself. They also conduct an annual policy survey of state education agency representatives to look at a scope of state-level programs that are related to the key factors in Quality Counts.

"Quality Counts 2012 is the 16th edition of our annual report card on state education policies and outcomes. It's designed to grade states on both policy efforts and student performance," Lloyd said. "This year's Quality Counts report, like previous editions of our annual report card, features state-by-state grades on education policy and performance along with data on more than 100 key education indicators."

One of the key findings of the report was that many states were looking internationally at other countries when trying to reform their educational systems. According to the Quality Counts report, education officials in 29 states reported that their agency uses international education comparisons to identify their reform strategies.

Sandra Robinson, dean of the College of Education at UCF, said that UCF itself is interested in looking at international comparisons and has already started applying that practice by opening the Morgridge International Reading Center in September. The center itself focuses on finding ways to improve and reduce illiteracy in children, which is an international issue.

"The purpose of the center is to bring together the best ideas to promote literacy worldwide," Robinson said. "We have a great deal of emphasis on looking worldwide at for methods of instructing children and preparing teachers."

UCF is contributing to improving Florida's educational system by teaching the future teachers. UCF, having one of the largest education colleges in the nation, is continuing to help those students find the strategies they need to understand the kind of conditions children are living in today.

"If they expect a lot of homework to be done for example, they need to know that they may not be getting any help at home because the parents simply cannot do it," Robinson said. "Thirty-one percent of all children in poor families don't have an employed parent in Florida. Twenty-nine percent have one parent who is employed full time, so we help our teachers understand the real world."

Kristi Shorr, a junior elementary education major, has her own strategies to help improve the quality of education in her future classroom. Since she plans on teaching first and second graders, she wants to use hands-on activities and have good communication with her community. Right now, she sees testing as the area that needs most improvement in Florida.

"Tests, especially the FCAT, is putting kids at high stakes, and they expect the same from each child when every child is different," Shorr said.

Lloyd said that states are already seeking improvement in their education. As of now, 20 states require annual evaluations for all teachers, up from 15 states in 2010. Four more states now mandate evaluations for teachers that are based on the achievement of their students. Also, more states are providing teachers with assessment tools that allow them to evaluate student learning more frequently than an annual state assessment.

To view the Quality Counts annual report, visit http://www.edweek.org/media/qualitycounts2012_release.pdf.