The Core

Commissioner Blomberg Announces Release of Florida Comprehensive Assessment Tests
Education Commissioner Jeanine Blomberg recently announced the release of five 2007 Florida Comprehensive Assessment Tests® (FCAT). The reading and mathematics tests for grades five and six and the science test for grade eight are actual tests taken by students and are no longer in use. In addition to the tests, the Department of Education released test answer keys, a fact sheet explaining uses for the test, a document explaining how to score the released tests, and Frequently Asked Questions. For more details, visit www.fldoe.org/news/2007/2007_11_06.asp.

Milken National Educator Award Presented To Lake County Principal
Education Commissioner Jeanine Blomberg recently announced Dr. Janice Boyd, Principal of Cecil E. Gray Middle School in Lake County, as a recipient of the Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award. Dr. Boyd was presented with the $25,000 award by Commissioner Blomberg and Milken Foundation representative Todd White at a school assembly. Recipients are given their award check at the annual Milken National Education Conference, an all-expense-paid professional development conference held in Los Angeles in the spring. They will also join the Milken Educator Network, a valuable resource of fellow educators, legislators, school boards and others in shaping the future of education. For more details on Dr. Boyd, visit www.fldoe.org/news/2007/2007_11_13.asp.

Chancellor Holcombe Presents Community College Best Practice Awards
Department of Education Division of Community Colleges Chancellor Dr. Will Holcombe recently presented the first-ever Chancellor’s Best Practice Awards to four Florida community colleges during the 58th Annual Florida Association of Community Colleges Convention in Orlando. The awards are based on each college’s innovative approach to areas such as academic affairs, student affairs, workforce education and business partnerships. To see the winners, visit www.fldoe.org/news/2007/2007_11_14.asp.

Families Building Better Readers and Mysteries in the Middle Training for Educators
Just Read, Florida! is committed to increasing parental involvement as a key to helping students improve their reading skills. The Volunteer Florida Foundation, Inc., will be managing signature programs, such as Families Building Better Readers (FBBR) and Mysteries in the Middle. Volunteer Florida Foundation, Inc. expects to reach as many parents as possible by training and deploying a network of master and field trainers. We are requesting that each school have their reading/literacy coach attend one of the five regional train-the-trainer workshops. The dates and locations are as follows:

Nov. 28, 2007 - Region 5
Miami-Dade School System, School Board Administration Building
School Board Auditorium
1450 N.E. 2nd Avenue
Miami, FL 33132

Nov. 30, 2007 - Region 3
Orange County Public Schools Educational Leadership Center
School Board Auditorium
445 West Amelia Street
Orlando, FL 32801

Dec. 5, 2007 - Region 1
Panhandle Area Education Consortium (PAEC)
Large Conference Room
753 West Boulevard
Chipley, FL 32438

Jan. 24, 2008 - Region 2
Nassau County Public Schools / Florida Community College at Jacksonville
Lewis “Red” Bean Center
Nassau Room
76346 William Burgess Blvd.
Yulee, FL 32097

Jan. 30, 2008
Seminole County School Board
400 E. Lake Mary Blvd.
Sanford, FL 32773

Jan. 31, 2008 - Region 4
South Shore Regional Library
15816 Beth Shields Way
Ruskin, FL 33573

For more details, visit http://info.fldoe.org/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-4717/JRFfbbr-memo10-07.pdf.

Seminole Community College’s Medical Transcription Program First in Florida Endorsed by Professional Group
Seminole Community College’s (SCC) Medical Transcription (MT) Program is the first in Florida to receive approval by a professional consortium.

Endorsement by the Approval Committee for Certificate Programs (ACCP), a joint committee established by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) and the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI), allows SCC graduates to be eligible for a federal-registered apprenticeship program. Also, only approved programs are eligible to market themselves through the Department of Defense.

The approval designation assures health-care providers that graduates of SCC’s MT program have the skills needed to be successful in entry-level medical transcription positions.

SCC’s college credit certificate program is one of the oldest in the nation. Since it started in 1988, SCC graduates have worked as MTs in health care facilities and transcription services throughout Central Florida, including Florida Hospital and Orlando Regional Medical Center.

SCC’s MT program, which is available fully online, provides a comprehensive curriculum in medical terminology, English grammar skills, medical legalities, and medical knowledge base, including anatomy and physiology, pharmacology, laboratory medicine, medical specialties and procedures.

As part of the approval, SCC was evaluated in a peer-review process against a minimum set of standards for entry-level medical transcription professionals.

For more information, go to www.scc-fl.edu/medicaltran.

Just Read, Florida! Recognizes Top 25 Percent of Reading First Districts
The Department of Education’s Just Read, Florida! Office recently recognized 12 Florida school districts for being in the top 25 percent of all Reading First districts in the state of Florida. Reading First grants assist Florida school districts and schools with implementation of proven methods of scientifically-based reading instruction in classrooms in order to prevent reading difficulties in grades K-3. For more details, visit www.fldoe.org/news/2007/2007_11_14-2.asp.

Department of Education Offers Environmental Education Tools
The Department of Education provides a variety of resources for teachers in environmental education. From links to various programs and publications to information on celebrating wildlife, educational resources can be found quickly and easily at www.fldoe.org/BII/Curriculum/Environmental_Ed/. Check out the Environmental Education section today.

Seeds of Success

Florida State School Social Worker of the Year
The Florida Association of School Social Workers (FASSW) recently announced Robin G. Pitura, a social worker for Lee County Public Schools, as School Social Worker of the Year.

She was honored for her exemplary service to schools, students and the community in the area of school social work in education. Mrs. Pitura is an itinerant school social worker assigned to The Sanibel School, Cypress Lake High and Dunbar High.

Bowling Educator of the Year
Susan Searls, physical education teacher at Davenport School of the Arts in Polk County, was recently honored at the 2007 Bowling Centers Association of Florida (BCAF) annual meeting as the association's Educator of the Year.

Clay County History Teacher Wins First Place in National Essay Contest
Middleburg High School history teacher Emma Humphries was recently selected as the 2007 winner of the George Washington Prize for Teaching America’s Founding. For her essay, Humphries received the national award and $2,500 in cash. The third year teacher was among the more than 100 educators who attended the Bill of Rights Institute’s: 2007 Landmarks in American History summer workshop in Mount Vernon, Va.

Superintendent Honored with Inaugural Award
Brevard Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Richard A. DiPatri was recently honored by the Economic Development Commission of Florida's Space Coast as the inaugural recipient of the Thomas E. Gamble Excellence in Education for Economic Development Award.

Branching Out

2007 Florida Charter School Conference
Dec. 3-4, 2007
Hilton, located in the Walt Disney World Resort
Orlando, Fla.

The 2007 Florida Charter School Conference will take place Dec. 3-4, 2007, at the Hilton located in the Walt Disney World Resort. This year's theme "Charters: A Choice for Excellence," will focus on leadership and the pursuit of excellence. The program is designed to provide information needed to continue offering a high-quality educational choice for Florida's students and parents. If you are interested in the success of charter schools and the options they give students in Florida, you should attend. Sessions are targeted at authorizers, administrators, educators and charter school stakeholders.

For more information on this conference, visit www.charterschoolconference.com.

2008 Effective Strategies Institute
Jan. 15-18, 2008
Hilton Daytona Beach Oceanfront Resort
Daytona Beach, Fla.

The 2008 Effective Strategies Institute will be held Jan. 15-18, 2008, at the Hilton Daytona Beach Oceanfront Resort in Daytona Beach, Fla. The Institute 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, Communities in Schools of Florida, Inc., and the Florida Association of Alternative School Educators.

The Institute will feature three nationally renowned keynote speakers, including Dr. Krystal Kuykendall and U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Consuelo Kickbush. There will be more than 60 workshops representing district, state, and national research-based instructional strategies and best practices in dropout prevention and Exceptional Student Educational programs.

District administrators, teachers, student services personnel, and program coordinators who provide services to students at risk of not graduating from high school are encouraged to attend.

To register and submit proposals for presentation, please visit the National Dropout Prevention Center Web site at www.dropoutprevention.org/ndpcdefault.htm, and click on “2008 Effective Strategies Institute.” The registration fee is $195.00 before Dec. 21, 2007. After that date, the registration fee will be $225.00. Institute attendees are encouraged to make room reservations at the host hotel by Dec. 31, 2007, to obtain the conference rate of $134.00 per night.

To subscribe or unsubscribe to The Core, click here.
For more information on this electronic newsletter, please e-mail thecore@fldoe.org.