Education in Florida

Reading early, well
Florida has had great success in improving reading at early ages: More than two-thirds of Florida's fourth graders are now reading at or above grade level.

And Florida is providing resources for further advances. In 2004, the state introduced reading coaches into elementary and middle schools.

The state's reading plan requires students in grades six through eight who cannot read at grade level to take a reading class developed by reading experts. The goal: To have each and every Florida child reading at or above grade level by 2012.

Florida is also aligning middle school coursework and grading systems to high school studies and systems, thus ensuring that middle school students complete coursework requirements for promotion to high school.

"Together we are demanding more for our students, and giving them the tools to build a future bigger and brighter than was their past," says Gov. Bush. "We must think big and act boldly to ensure that our education system addresses the needs of all students."

The result will continue to be a highly skilled, competitive workforce that will advance the state's prosperous outlook.

College excellence
Florida's Community College System (FCCS) began in 1933 when Palm Beach Junior College was established as a public two-year college. In 1947, St. Petersburg Junior College (now St. Petersburg College) became the state's second community college.

FCCS has since grown to include more than 800,000 students at 28 schools, which lead in retention and graduation rates among college members of the Southern Regional Education Board.Florida community colleges offer nearly 800 associate in arts and associate in science degrees, about 500 certificate programs, plus four-year degrees at some colleges. Associate in arts degree graduates can enter a state university at the junior level.

Vocational education, adult continuing education and certificate programs prepare and enhance students' abilities to compete in the modern workplace. Florida's workforce system and the private sector coordinate training initiatives and grants through community colleges.

"Florida's Community College System is taking an aggressive approach to integrating technology to enhance the student's educational experience," says David Armstrong, Chancellor of Florida's Community Colleges and Workforce Education. ÒWe are creating the kind of workforce Florida needs to continue to attract high-wage, high-value jobs." Indeed, community colleges are Òone of the unsung heroes behind Florida's economic development revolution," says Gov. Bush.

Public, private universities
Florida's 11 public universities have nearly 280,000 students, and those universities will award about 64,000 degrees in 2006.

A record $1.4 billion in public and private sector research was done at Florida public universities and the private University of Miami in 2004.

Researchers also applied for and received more patents than ever, according to a Florida State University study: 616 invention disclosures (versus 552 in 2003) and 127 U.S. patents (versus 119 in 2003).

And for every additional dollar spent on research, the state enjoys about $11 in increased economic activity, according to a Board of Governors-sponsored study.

The $150 million in Florida tax revenue spent on university research in FY 2003-04 leveraged an additional $1.2 billion in grants, fees and private spending. Over the next 30 years, the investments will generate about $218 million in additional tax revenue and support more than 75,000 Florida jobs, according to a recent study done by Florida State University.

Florida's private, independent colleges and universities have some 120,000 students, accounting for more than one-quarter of all students attending four-year schools.

The 28 schools in the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida (ICUF) association are accredited, nonprofit and Florida-based. They have assets of more than $3 billion and produce more than 60 percent of the first professional degrees awarded in Florida.

The ICUF schools mirror Florida's 11 public universities in being accredited, nonprofit and Florida-based. Diverse in student bodies and missions, they offer a wide range of programs.

The New Dynamics of Public Education in Florida

· For the first time, more than half the students in Florida's public schools are now reading at or above grade level (versus 46 percent in 2001).

· High school graduation rates are up while dropout rates have dropped by almost half in recent years.

· Minority K-12 students are gaining ground twice as fast in reading and three times as fast in math as are their white classmates.

· The number of high school students taking advanced placement courses increased in recent years more than twice as fast as did the national average.

· About 35 percent of all Florida's public university students are minority students.

Florida pioneers new tools for teachers
Florida's public school teachers will soon have access to a new collection of cutting-edge online tools called "Sunshine Connections," which will allow teachers to track student progress and freely share information on how they can improve learning.

Florida officials in August 2005 launched the first phase of Sunshine Connections in Bay County.

"We are deeply committed to addressing the needs of our education community by providing teachers with tools to help them succeed," says Gov. Jeb Bush. "This pioneering approach will free teachers of burdensome paperwork, allowing them to focus on teaching."

Sunshine Connections provides teachers with quick, easy access to classroom-management tools, linking teachers to student data, curricular materials and other Florida educators.

Microsoft U.S. Partners in Learning, the Florida Department of Education and Florida teachers developed the tools over two years. Microsoft will spend $6 million on the system and plans to use Florida as a model for other states. Besides minimizing paperwork, Sunshine Connections will help teachers reduce lesson-planning time and develop teaching activities based on their student data. It will allow teachers to share lesson plans and best practices, as well as instant access to student performance data right from their desktop computers with just a few clicks of a mouse.

Timely teaching tools
Teachers will be able to view and analyze their students' Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) scores and easily identify each student's strengths and weaknesses in particular areas. Sunshine Connections will help teachers find, modify or design curricular materials around the unique needs of each student as early as the first day of school.

Teachers with initial access include Michelle Gainer, a high school math teacher at A. Crawford Mosley High School in Bay County.

"This site provides me with a way to find the information I need on planning and student assistance in a timely manner," says Gainer. "The secure log-in allows me to analyze my students' areas of weakness based on the previous year's FCAT results. Much like a doctor analyzing patients before treating them, I can analyze my students' needs before teaching them."

Users in Duval and Miami-Dade counties and some districts in the North East Florida Educational Consortium will follow Bay County. By 2009, Sunshine Connections will be available to more than 200,000 teachers and 2.9 million students statewide in all 67 Florida school districts.