By Richard Bammer
The following are five noteworthy Reporter stories on the education beat that did not make the top five in a round-up of a year-end major headline list published on Thursday:
1. PHYSICAL FITNESS TEST SCORES MARKEDLY LOW FOR FSUSD STUDENTS
State schools chief Tom Torlakson in December released the 2015-16 state physical fitness test scores, indicating they had declined slightly from the previous two years in terms of the percentage of students who met Healthy Fitness Zone (HFZ) standards.
For the past 17 years, given to fifth-, seventh- and ninth-graders in the spring, the test measures performance standards in six areas: aerobic capacity, body composition, abdominal strength, trunk extensor strength, upper body strength, and flexibility. The HFZ is a state benchmark of fitness that offers, educators believe, protection against diseases tied to sedentary lifestyles, among them diabetes, obesity and heart disease.