By
The first round of FCAT testing gets underway bright and early Tuesday morning, as fourth, eighth and 10th graders pick up their pencils for the writing exam.
Writing exams take place from Tuesday to Thursday.
The next round of Florida Comprehensive Assessment Tests runs the week of March 9-19.
During that week, third through 10th grade students will take the reading and math tests. Fifth, eighth and 11th grade students will also take the science test.
Source: South Florida Education Blog
By
Palm Beach State College is doing a good job of serving Hispanic students, a new report suggests.
The national group Excelencia in Education commends the school, formerly known as Palm Beach Community College, for its mentoring programs, diversity awareness, cultural training for support staff, accessible financial aid information and efforts to improve retention and graduation of Latino students.
The report examined “emerging Hispanic serving institutions,” which are defined as ones whose Hispanic populations are between 9 percent and 25 percent. About 18 percent of Palm Beach State’s students are Hispanic.
Four colleges are highlighted in the report, although Palm Beach State is the only community college. The other schools singled out for their efforts are Loyola Marymount University in California, Texas State University- San Marcos and Metropolitan State College of Denver.
As the number of college-going Hispanics increase, “it’s important to understand what it means to serve Latino students well, and we can [...]
Source: South Florida Education Blog
By
Six educators who show students real-world applications for their lessons have been tapped as finalists for Broward Teacher of the Year.
Basma Andre, 29, teaches chemistry at Nova High in Davie. Carolyn Cerrato, 56 is a reading specialist at Palm Cove Elementary in Pembroke Pines. Neil Jenkins, 62, is the band director at J. P. Taravella High in Coral Springs. Andrew Kirk, 34, teaches math at Pompano Beach High. Allan Phipps, 35, teaches environmental science at South Plantation High. And Sharon Rapheal, 57 is a reading specialist at Fox Trail Elementary in Davie.
Andre, a chemistry teacher since 2003, thought she would become a pharmacist like her father, but found her calling after working as a summer camp counselor. Her teaching philosophy is simple: love it, do whatever it takes to help students learn and never let children down.
Cerrato said students learn the most when they don’t realize they are being taught. [...]
Source: South Florida Education Blog
By
From staff writer Anna Beach:
Coral Park Elementary fifth-grader Cameron Perez suffered a ruptured blood vessel in his brain on Jan. 6. He’s still in hospital after two surgeries, with more to come before transferring to Miami’s Jackson Memorial for several months of rehabilitation.
There’s no health insurance and his parents aren’t working. They need to be at their son’s bedside, helping with difficult moments and uncomfortable procedures.
To raise funds, Coral Park students have been hunting down pennies, nickels and dimes in the Coins for Cameron campaign and baking up a storm to sell Cookies for Cameron.
On Saturday, their efforts go into overdrive. The Carnival for Cameron takes place 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Feb. 6 at Coral Park Elementary, 8401 Westview Drive, Coral Springs.
Open to the community, there will be games, rides, a cake walk and more. Students will sell their homemade items [...]
Source: South Florida Education Blog
By
Even students who are behind bars are getting a quality education from Palm Beach County public schools, officials say.
The school district’s department of Student Intervention Services announced this week that 13 of the nearly 110 students incarcerated at the Palm Beach Juvenile Correctional Facility have completed high school graduation requirements.
“Many of these students performed beyond the minimum requirements on all components of the General Education Development alternative assessment test,” spokeswoman Debi Stewart wrote in a news release.
At a date to be scheduled, the students will receive their framed high school diploma, souvenir programs, a framed souvenir tassel, and graduation photos for their parents.
A graduation/career coach will work with the students on possibilities for continuing their education and career opportunities.
Source: South Florida Education Blog
By
With just a few days before Florida’s fourth, eighth and tenth graders take the writing portion of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, Oriole Elementary School in Lauderdale Lakes is tagging cars of fourth graders’ parents to get them excited for next Tuesday’s test.
Parents who showed up for the school’s Title One Report Card night on Wednesday also got the chance to get “tagged” with messages such as “Rock the FCAT!” and “4th Graders at Oriole Elementary have the ‘Write Stuff.’”
“They were lining up out of our parking lot and down the street,” said Randee Deich, the school’s instructional technology teacher. The school will do something similar before the math, reading and science tests start March 9.
The school took photos of Wednesday night’s tagging, then sent a link to the photos out on Twitter (follow them at @orioleelem).
Parents who still want to get their cars tagged will have three [...]
Source: South Florida Education Blog
By
In the wake of the earthquake in Haiti, I wrote in a story this week about how the Coconut Creek-based Food for the Poor has put a six-month a story moratorium on trips to Haiti.
The reason is not because four students and two professors at Lynn University were lost in the earthquake, while on a Food for the Poor mission trip. Instead, it’s because the charity doesn’t believe Haiti will be in a position to accommodate guests for at least six months, Angel Aloma, the group’s executive director said.
But that’s not stopping another South Florida school, Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, from going ahead with plans for a Spring Break mission trip. A group of students will work with Mission of Hope Haiti, a Christian- based group headquartered just north of Port-au-Prince. The agency fared well during the earthquake, said Becky Peeling, a spokeswoman for Palm [...]
Source: South Florida Education Blog
By
Super Bowl week means football and championships, and this week another special trophy will be handed out. But this one doesn’t reward efforts made on the gridiron, was not created by Tiffany & Co. and won’t be handed out by the NFL commissioner.
Pine Crest School’s middle school students are making the first-ever Earthman’s Pro Football Eco Player of the Year award. The replica of the football is being made with recycled glass fused in a kiln and mounted on recycled wood.
Atlanta Falcons fullback Ovie Mughelli is the winner for teaching youngsters the importance of caring for the planet, according to The Earthman Project, a nonprofit founded by Lanny Smith, the 2006-2007 North American Environmental Educator of the Year.
Mughelli’s foundation works with environmental leaders to develop football camps, green speaking events and eco-challenges that educate 8- to 17-year-olds.
Mughelli will receive his Earthman trophy Friday morning [...]
Source: South Florida Education Blog
By
Broward College is ready to help students fill out financial aid applications.
Information on available programs, scholarships and Bright Futures will be presented in Creole, Spanish and English from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 20 at BC’s Central Campus in Davie, at 3501 SW Davie Road, Building 19.
Students who bring their 2009 tax information (e.g. tax returns or W-2s) will be able to submit their applications on the spot.
For more information call 954-201-7200 or visit www.broward.edu/sfs/
Source: South Florida Education Blog
By
A battle over Palm Beach County teacher pay is continuing as students prepare for the FCAT exams in writing next week and other subjects next month.
As I reported Monday, the Classroom Teachers Association rejected the school district’s offer of $500 bonuses in lieu of raises.
During negotiations, district officials issued a rebuttal to some statements that union President Robert Dow made to the School Board two weeks ago, during a dramatic hospital room speech recorded on video.
At the time, Dow said, “a fourth year teacher makes a hundred dollars a year more than a first year teacher; a 10-year teacher $4,000 more than a first year teacher.”
“No so,” the district declared, noting that beginning teachers receive a base salary of $36,822, compared to $38,260 for a teacher in year four and $43,554 for a teacher in year 10. The differences are $1,438 and $6,732, respectively.
Source: South Florida Education Blog