School Zone
Points of Pride
Education Commissioner Visits with Duval County Teachers
Florida's new Education Commissioner,
Dr. Eric J. Smith, came to Jacksonville on May 29 to
talk with Duval County Public Schools’ (DCPS) teachers
in a relaxed “town meeting” format.
Dr. Smith, who assumed the
state’s top education post last December, was welcomed
to the Schultz Center For Teaching and Leadership by
Superintendent Ed Pratt-Dannals, who described the
commissioner as a “good friend” of the school district.
In opening remarks, Dr. Smith
listed some of the challenges facing him including the
severe funding shortfall. Naming some of the programs
that have advanced public education reform in the
Sunshine State, he said, “These are the things that we
fought hard for. Now, in some cases, we are having to
tear them apart (due to lack of funding).”
The commissioner assured the
150 teachers that vitally important education reforms
will continue in spite of budgetary restrictions. “Our
work (at the state level) will continue. You will
continue to improve the lives of your students.”
“The news is not all bad,”
Dr. Smith said. According to the 2008 Quality Counts
report - a national comparison of state education
systems - Florida ranked among the top 15 in the
country. Dr. Smith said that since last year, Florida
schools have jumped from 31st place in the nation to
14th. In the K-12 Student Achievement section of the
report, Florida ranks seventh in the nation.
He said that Florida was
recognized for:
- Outstanding student
participation in and performance on Advanced
Placement (AP) programs;
- Academic gains on the
National Assessment of Educational Progress (also
known as the nation’s report card);
- Closing the achievement
gap between white and minority students;
- Preparing, attracting
and recognizing quality teachers; and
- Preparing our students
for the future by setting high standards and
measuring progress.
The hour-long session
continued with a series of hard-hitting questions posed
by members of the district’s Instructional Enhancement
Team (IET). Teachers quizzed the commissioner about
performance pay, how to cope with overage students, the
impact of testing on classroom instruction and teacher
morale.
A common theme in the
commissioner’s responses was the necessity to raise
expectations for all of Florida’s children, the need to
support them with safety net programs, and the
importance to inspire students to excel rather than
simply meet minimum standards. Dr. Smith also said that
he aims to give district superintendents flexibility to
meet state standards in their schools.
After the town hall meeting,
Dr. Smith mingled with teachers at a reception hosted by
the Partnership To Enhance Teaching and Learning. This
group of partners (formerly known as vendors)
co-sponsors the IET with the DCPS Office of School
Programs.
About the Instructional
Enhancement Team
The IET teams for elementary and middle school teachers
support and encourage members to develop as teacher
leaders. IETs provide opportunities for these teachers
to extend their influence beyond their classrooms to
their instructional colleagues, schools and the
district. The IET teams meet after-hours each month
during the school year. Eighty percent attendance is
required to maintain membership in the IET.
For more information about
IET, go to
www.duvalschools.org and click on Curriculum >
Riverdeep to reach the Liberal Arts and School Programs
department.
Eight
Duval County Public Schools’ Students Receive
College-Sponsored National Merit Scholarships
Last month, the National Merit
Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) announced that eight
Duval County Public Schools’ students were among more
than 2,800 winners of National Merit Scholarships
financed by colleges and universities.
Officials of each sponsor
college selected their scholarship winner from among
finalists in the 2008 National Merit Scholarship Program
who plan to attend their institution. These awards
provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four
years of undergraduate study at the institution
financing the scholarship.
“I am proud of the Duval
County public school students who received scholarships
through the National Merit Scholarship Program this
year,” said Ed Pratt-Dannals, Superintendent of Duval
County Public Schools. “The National Merit Scholarship
Program, along with these colleges and universities, has
provided some of our brightest students with the much
needed funds to be successful throughout college.”
This year, 194 higher
education institutions are underwriting Merit
Scholarship awards through the National Merit Program.
Sponsor colleges and universities include 115 private
and 79 public institutions located in 43 states and the
District of Columbia.
This year’s winners are among
approximately 8,200 distinguished high school seniors
who will receive National Merit Scholarships worth $36
million for their undergraduate studies.
Earlier this spring, two
other types of National Merit Scholarships were
announced – corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards
and National Merit $2,500 Scholarships.
2008 National Merit
Scholarship Competition
The 2008 competition for
National Merit Scholarships began in October 2006 when
more than 1.4 million juniors in over 21,000 high
schools took the Preliminary SAT/National Merit
Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served
as an initial screen of program entrants.
Last fall, the
highest-scoring participants in each state, representing
less than one percent of the state’s seniors, were named
semifinalists on a state representational basis. Only
the 16,000 semifinalists had an opportunity to continue
in the competition.
Approximately 15,000
semifinalists met the very high academic standards and
other requirements to advance to the finalist level of
the competition. By the conclusion of the 2008 program,
about 8,200 finalists will earn the “Merit Scholar”
title and receive a total of more than $36 million in
college scholarships.
NMSC, a not-for-profit
corporation that operates without government assistance,
was founded in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual
National Merit Scholarship Program. The majority of
scholarships offered each year are underwritten by
approximately 500 independent corporate and college
sponsors that share NMSC’s goals of honoring
scholastically talented youth and enhancing their
educational opportunities.
Congratulations to the
following Merit Scholars:
Stanton College
Preparatory School
Jessica Davis, University of Central Florida
Nikola Dragovic, New York University
Lauren Fant, University of Central Florida
Taraneh Hazrati, Florida State University
Robert Lamell, Georgia Institute of Technology
Visalak Ramachandran, University of Central Florida
Justin Spengler, New College of Florida
Douglas Anderson School of
the Arts
Anne Ogburn, Tulane University
Nine
Duval County teachers selected as Princeton Scholars
The First Coast Scholars office,
Jesse Ball duPont Fund and Princeton Alumni announced
the selection of the following Duval County teachers as
this year’s Princeton Scholars:
Suzanne Copley, Paxon Middle
School
Osman Demirel, River City Science Academy
Rama Guduru, Paxon High School
Sandra Hay, Mandarin Middle School
Katina Higgins, Englewood High School
Carmen Jones, Justina Road Elementary
Victoria Lindsey, Louis Sheffield Elementary
Elaine Pozin, District Operated Programs
Brenda Richards, West Jacksonville Elementary
These First Coast Scholars educators will be
spending a week on the campus of Princeton University
studying under the instruction of Dr. U. C.
Knoepflmacher. Dr. Knoepflmacher, Princeton
University’s Paton Foundation emeritus professor of
ancient and modern literature, is a specialist in
children’s literature as well as 19th Century
British text. The title of the class is Children in
Transition and the focus is to assist each teacher
in developing additional lessons for their First Coast
Scholars Unit or to develop independent classroom
lessons. | 
