In Florida the state leaders have a fondness for raising the bar but a blind spot for helping kids

From the Sun Sentinels editorial board

The latest round in the battle royal to tune up Florida's schools so graduates can go toe-to-toe with global competition ended last week in a split decision.

Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson — staunchly in the corner of tougher standards — landed a haymaker. The state Board of Education approved a more rigorous school grading scheme. Despite teeth-gnashing that the plan surely will pile up more F-rated schools, it was the right call.

However, schools managed to duck the controversial "F trigger." Under that plan, schools would've been slapped with automatic F's if fewer than 25 percent of their students scored at grade level on FCAT reading. The plan ignored gains in areas not judged by FCAT. It was a simplistic metric that deserved to be junked.

Inarguably. But there's something critical missing from Robinson's observation. He's rightly focused on raising Florida's standards. But Florida's approach seems akin to shifting novice pilots from Cessnas to F-35 jets without the necessary training.

Robinson and state leaders share a fondness for bar-raising and a blind-spot for finding ways to help students who struggled or failed to reach the previous bar.

"There is nothing wrong with testing per se, if its purpose is to identify areas for improvement and then improve them," says Terry Piper, dean of the Adrian Dominican School of Education at Barry University. "It is this last step on which government falters. They effectively say to the school districts, 'Go fix it, and, oh yeah, we're going to give you even less money if you don't or, in some instances, while you're trying to do it."

After several years of deep cuts, the Legislature may restore about $1 billion to schools. It's a start.

But with more rigorous standards, schools also need tools and resources to aid success. "If you don't," says Matthew Lynch, associate professor of education at Pennsylvania's Widener University, "you are simply setting them up for failure."

One solution — small-group peer instruction — requires not a shift in funding, but perspective. "In the real world, one rarely succeeds individually," says Keith Verner, founder of Cognitive Learning Systems, Inc.

Robinson, in driving reforms, is right to keep his eye on the prize. But he mustn't lose sight of students who desperately need a boost to reach new heights.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/editorials/os-education-florida-editorial-0306-20120306,0,1790868.story