Judy's Journal

Since this will be the last e-newsletter for the 2006 year, we wish you a Happy and Healthy New Year for 2007. As I write this, my last article for the Florida School Choice e-newsletter of the Florida School Choice Resource Center (FSCRC) for 2006, we are pleased to continue our work for school choice in Florida. This Center was developed under the Voluntary Public School Choice grant (VPSC) from the United States Department of Education which was provided to the State of Florida in the 2002-2003 school year to expand, reinstate or improve school choice in Florida. This grant provided a five-year sub-grant to Nova Southeastern University, Fischler School of Education and Human Services (FGSEHS) which provides for the increase of initiatives of the National Institute of Educational Options (NIEO) which has been part of the FGSEHS since 1998.

NIEO has worked nationally on facilitating, developing and/or implementing school choice or educational options—magnets, charters, home schools, Opportunity Scholarships, virtual schools and career academies for parental involvement and student academic excellence. Read On…

Jeb Bush:
My legacy to Florida Schools

Thanks to the hard work of our Florida teachers and the philosophy that every child has the God-given ability to learn, remarkable progress has been made in Florida's schools during the past eight years.

Eight years ago, our students' test scores ranked at the bottom in the nation; our school librarians could track school books better than we could track our students' progress; and we had more schools under-performing than performing well.

Then we put the A-Plus Plan into action -- a plan based on high standards and expectations, clear measurement and accountability, and rewards and consequences for results. We made student learning the organizing principle of our schools.

Today, Florida's education reforms serve as a model for the nation, and are even being emulated in places like New York City. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the nation's report card, our fourth-graders are now above the national average in reading and math. In fourth-grade writing, we are eighth in the nation. And now, hundreds of thousands of Florida students are attending a higher-performing school and receiving a better education. Read On…

DR.MICHAEL KLONSKY

Director of The Small Schools Workshop, becomes Visiting Professor at Fischler School of Education and Human Services at Nova Southeastern University

November 7, 2006 Dr. Michael Klonsky, Director of the Small Schools Workshop in Chicago, Illinois became a Visiting Professor at the Fischler Schools of Education and Human Services at Nova Southeastern University. Dr. Klonsky the Director of the Small Schools Workshop heads a nationally recognized provider of training, technical assistance, research and professional development programs for public schools and public school districts. His work since 1991 focuses on the restructuring of large elementary and secondary schools into smaller and more effective learning environments. The Small Schools Workshop also assists policy makers and school leaders engaged in promoting smaller public schools. The training includes district-level leaders and educational leadership which matches our mission and emphasis on educational leadership. Read On…

FLORIDA SCHOOL CHOICE RESOURCE CENTER STAFF ATTENDS VPSC DIRECTORS’ CONFERENCE

Partnership of State University and Private University For School Choice and Secondary School Reform Initiatives 

The chief partners in the initiative are the Provost and Dean of the Fischler School of Education and Human Services (FSEHS)Dr. H. Wells Singleton and the Associate Dean, Professor and Chair, Dr. Joseph Peters,College of Professional Studies at University of West Florida who have organized this partnership. Many activities have already taken place, through the efforts of two directors at the two universities. Dr. Wally Bouchillon, Assistant Professor for Career and Technical Education and DR. Judith Stein, Executive Director of the National Institute of Educational Options which houses the Fla. School Choice Resource Center of the State of Florida through the USDOE funded Voluntary Public School Choice (VPSC)grant.
Read On…

The Southeast Coalition of Essential Schools Center Provides Professional Development Through Networking.

Kathleen Harris

The Southeastern Coalition of Essential Schools Center, a partner of the Florida School Choice Resource Center at Nova Southeastern University in Tampa, has held a number of professional development events aimed at strengthening the Smaller Learning Communities programs and Career Academies. Four charter schools districts who currently have large high schools implementing career academies or small schools have come together to form this center. Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee and Sarasota, as charter members of this center, are providing support through on going professional development for their high schools. These professional development activities are geared at creating a peer-to-peer network of educators doing similar work. A number of networking session and critical conversations have been held at Nova Southeastern University’s Tampa location. These session have provided the venue for sharing promising practices, mutual concerns and resources. All those involved reported positive gains at their school sites from these activities. Read On… 

Florida Public School Choice Consortium Update

by Kathleen Harris, Administrator of the North and Central FSCRC, Nova Southeastern University

The Florida Public School Choice Consortium has met twice this school year. The first meeting was held in conjunction with the K-12 School Conference at the Caribe Royal in Orlando on Oct 3, 2006. This dinner meeting provided the venue for networking ideas and promising practices related to equitable school choice programs and explored ways to expand the membership and influence of this organization. It was suggested that maintaining a strong partnership with charter and magnet school organizations is critical to developing a consistent political voice. Dr. Rodriguez, the president elect, provided some specific ways to nurture these partnerships.

Charter Chat with Katy

Katy Twist
Florida School Choice Resource Center

On September 25th through the 27th, I had the honor of attending the Voluntary Public School Choice (VPSC) Project Directors’ Conference, in Bloomington, Minnesota with my fellow coworkers and educational partners representing the Florida Department of Education’s voluntary public school choice grant. The purpose of this discretionary grant program is to assist State Education Agencies and school districts in establishing or expanding a public school choice program, in an effort to strengthen the educational options for parents to secure a higher quality of education for their children (VPSC PD Conference Binder, 2006). Nearly every State has some type of choice plan, either allowing families to choose a public school within a district, surrounding districts, across the State, among charter schools and /or magnet schools and career academies (VPSC PD Conference Biner, 2006). Read On...

PBC Career Academies Honored With National Standards  Of Practice Awards

Bito David, Public Affairs Specialist
Career Academies from five Palm Beach County High Schools that were evaluated during the 2005-2006 school year based on the National Standards of Practice (NSOP) were honored during the 10th Annual National Career Academy coalition conference in San Francisco, California on November 13, 2006.  Connie Scotchel-Gross, Manager of

www.schoolofed.nova.edu