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December/January Letter

Dear Colleagues,

Although schools are heading toward the holiday break, quite a lot is happening this month and into early 2007! Contact me any time with questions and/or suggestions

December/January Highlights:

Conferences

  • Upcoming Dropout Prevention Conference: The 2007 Effective Strategies Institute

    • The 2007 Effective Strategies Institute theme is “Planting Seeds of Promise: Reaching, Teaching, and Engaging.” The Institute will be held January 16-19, 2007 at the Belleview Biltmore Resort in Clearwater, Florida, and is sponsored by the National Dropout Prevention Center/Network (NDPC), the Florida Department of Education, 21st Century Community Learning Centers of Florida, the University of Florida, the National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities, the Florida Association of Alternative School Educators and Communities in Schools of Florida. The Institute will feature four nationally-renowned keynote speakers, more than fifty workshops addressing local, state, and national research-based instructional strategies, and best practices in dropout prevention and ESE programs. [Note: The first 200 Florida school district personnel who register online as Florida educators using the code FLDOE07 will receive a $100.00 discount on the registration fee.]

    For those of you planning to attend the conference, please stop by the “Just for Teachers” table in the exhibit hall. I would love to meet you!

  • 2007 Hazardous Weather Awareness Week

    • High School Short Essay Contest

    Just Read, Florida!, in partnership with the Florida Department of Community Affairs, Division of Emergency Management and several other emergency management partners, is conducting a statewide short essay contest aimed at high school students as part of the 2007 Hazardous Weather Awareness Week, February 11 through 17. Ninth through twelfth graders in all school districts are invited to participate in the contest. The seven winners and their teacher, selected from each of the seven emergency management areas in the state, will win cash prizes and weather radios. Awards will be presented during the annual award ceremony held in Tallahassee’s Capitol Rotunda on Monday, February 12, 2006.

    Fourth and Fifth Grade Poster Contest and Other Events

    One of the goals of Hazardous Weather Awareness Week is to promote a culture of preparedness throughout all grade levels. The essay contest is part of an annual public awareness campaign that includes distribution of the "Florida Hazardous Weather Guide" to middle school classrooms, children's books in elementary school classrooms, and a poster contest for fourth and fifth graders. Also a part of the campaign is the statewide "Tornado Drill" to be conducted by the Florida offices of the National Weather Service.

New Legislation: Secondary Reform

  • Choosing a Major Area of Interest

    Beginning with the 2007-2008 school year, choosing a major area of interest will be part of secondary education in Florida. A common misconception of this new requirement is that, by choosing a major area of interest, students must decide their future career paths while still in high school. This is not so. The purpose of choosing a major area of interest is to give students an opportunity to become more engaged in and appreciate the relevance of high school studies by making choices that allow them to pursue their unique interests. Rather than asking: “Why do I have to take this class?” students will be able to make the connection between the courses they take in high school and their application to real careers. Over 440 major areas are available for high school students throughout Florida, including students with disabilities working toward a special diploma, students enrolled in career academies or magnet programs, and students in charter schools. New major areas of interest include Aerospace and Aviation, Broadcast Communication, Education, Biotechnology, Pre Medical, Web Design, and Publishing to name a few.

    • Teacher Involvement in Reviewing and Recommending Majors

    Curriculum specialists completed an internal review of district proposals, reviewing them for alignment, course availability for all high school students, rigor, relevance and added value to Florida's high school diploma. The internal review was followed by an external review by teachers and stakeholders recommended to the Department of Education by district superintendents. Teachers from across the state helped to review and recommend these submissions.

    Tools for Students

    Students will be able to select their major area of interest through Florida's online student advising system, the Florida Academic Counseling and Tracking for Students or FACTS.org. In February 2007, eighth-grade students can go to FACTS.org, locate the high school they plan to attend and review the major areas of interest that will be available at that school. Currently, the e-Personal Education Planner (ePEP), an interactive course planner for middle and high school students, is being modified to add middle schools, major areas of interest and the new high school graduation requirements. In April, students will be able to complete an ePersonal Education Planner (ePEP), based on their chosen major area of interest and on their educational goals. Students selecting a major area of interest can change their minds the following year with no penalty.

    List of approved majors and access to the ePEP course planner made available through FACTS.org.

    Students Completing an ePEP Have an Opportunity to Win a Laptop http://www.facts.org

    Public high school students who create a new ePEP at FACTS.org by Feb. 28, 2007 can enter a drawing for an IBM Z60t Thinkpad laptop and backpack.

Special Teachers Are Rewarded (STAR) Report

  • State Board of Education Approves Additional District Plans

    • This week, the Florida State Board of Education approved three additional district STAR plans submitted by Citrus, Calhoun, and Brevard Counties. The first plan to be approved was submitted by Hillsborough County and was approved on October. All four recently approved plans met all of the requirements and were unanimously approved by the State Board of Education. The $147.5 million allocated by the Florida Legislature for STAR will be divided among those districts that have State Board approved STAR plans. Although districts are required to have a performance pay plan in place, they may choose not to participate in STAR. Districts choosing not to participate in STAR must fund a performance pay program with their own funds. Currently, the Department of Education is working with a number of districts on their draft STAR plans. Districts wishing to participate must submit their STAR plan to the State Board of Education by December 31, 2006. More information on STAR and State Board of Education meetings/materials on the Web.

    Clearinghouse for End-of-Course Exams

    The Department of Education will be establishing a repository, or 'clearinghouse,' of end-of-course exams, which will be made available at no charge to all interested public school districts for use in the implementation of the Special Teachers Are Rewarded (STAR) program. This database, planned for release in early 2007, is intended to help districts participate in STAR by providing materials needed to assess learning gains made by students of teachers of non-FCAT subjects. Sharing and use of exams is optional, and at the discretion of each school district. Hillsborough County and the Florida Virtual School have already volunteered to share their end-of-course exams.

    Encouraging Parental Involvement in Student Achievement

    In the November/December Newsletter, the online availability of released FCAT tests was announced. Please remind parents that taking an FCAT test online with their child will give them insight into how their child may perform on a very similar test in the spring. Doing so will also allow parents to pursue additional assistance for their child in certain skill areas, if needed. Tests for grades 3-10, with the exception of grades 5 and 6, are currently available online with many in a new interactive format allowing users easy access to questions, answers, a fact sheet explaining uses for the test, and frequently asked questions.

Coming Soon

Regional Discussion Boards on Hot Topics in Education Due to some technical issues with the online discussion boards mentioned in the October/November newsletter; I was unable to release the application for participation in the proposed discussion groups in the November/December newsletter, as previously planned. Look for the online application to be released in an upcoming newsletter after the holiday break. View the announcement made in the October/November newsletter regarding the upcoming formation of regional discussion forums, visit the “Monthly Newsletter Archives.”

Additional Information

Archived “Just for Teachers” Newsletters

Looking for other information from a past newsletter? Remember that previous “Just for Teachers” newsletters are always archived on the “Just for Teachers” web site with live links to detailed information.

Did You Know?

Florida School Indicators Report

If you would like to know interesting education facts about your school, district, or the state, you can search the Florida School Indicators Report database. The database is available online and allows you to search for interesting pieces of information such as graduation rates, percentage of courses taught by out-of-field teachers, percentage of faculty with advanced degrees and more. Interested?

Have a question? Email me at: justforteachers@fldoe.org

Have a wonderful holiday break!

See you in 2007!

Best Regards,
Nicole