Education Resources

Here is a link to great organization: Education Writers Association. The page includes links to education data.

Here is a link to the Florida PTA.

Here is a link to the Florida School Board organization.

Here is the Florida Department of Education. Here is information on FCAT - including school and district scores.

Here is information on Florida chater schools.

Here are the school report cards for Florida.

Election coverage

Here is a strong election package.

Here is a basic candidate story.

Here is a pre-election story regarding residency.

Election resources

Here is a good resource for covering elections.

Here is another.

Here is a good resource for campaign finance questions.

Here is Orange County election information.

Here is Seminole County election information.

Covering elections

Exam 1 Study Guide

Here is a link to your study guide for Exam 1 on Thursday.

Beat 1 story reminder

Just a reminder from your syllabus:


Guidelines for written work:
• ALL PAPERS MUST BE TYPED AND STAPLED.
• LATE PAPERS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.
• You must have three human sources per story. Documents and reports should also be used as sources where appropriate, but they will not count against the three-source minimum. Your relatives, friends and classmates are NOT acceptable sources. Random citizens make poor sources.
• Make sure you submit a source list including contact information with each story.
• Do not plagiarize, fabricate, or submit work you have done for another class. Your story should not have a UCF connection.
• Stories must be double-spaced, in correct form and style and should contain your name, the date, and the slug in the upper left-hand corner.
• Proofread and correctly copy edit your copy! All spelling, punctuation, grammar, AP style, and factual errors will cause you to lose points.
• You may not quote another newspaper or television or other media source.
• All stories must be approved in advance – by a minimum of 12 hours. An email pitch must be sent and it must include an explanation of why the story is newsworthy and a list of 3 sources. If it is not approved in advance by email, the highest grade you may receive is 70 points.

Good luck!

Covering legislation

Another city council story possibility is looking at legislation that the council has approved.

Here is a link to all local laws/ordinances in Florida.

Here is a good explanation of how a law is approved at the state level. (Although it is not actually Florida, most state approval works the same way.)

Here is another good resource.