In a major and much-welcomed move, Florida has begun using the FCAT to evaluate colleges of education with some fascinating results:
It determined what percentage of graduates from each program had 50 percent or more of their students make a year's worth of progress. USF's College of Education ??? a huge pipeline for teachers in the Tampa Bay area ??? had 76 percent of its graduates reach that bar, putting it ninth among the 10 state university programs. Florida International University in Miami topped the field at 85 percent. The University of West Florida in Pensacola was last at 70 percent...The department also used FCAT scores to determine which rookies from each program were "high performing." USF had 15 percent of its graduates in that category, putting it at No. 6 among state university programs...FIU again led the pack, with 23 percent. Florida A&M University was last with 7 percent.
Florida has probably been planning this type of analysis for a while, but Secretary Duncan's pushing for such evaluations surely helped. Score one for the Sunshine State with a big assist from Arne.