JANUARY 5, 2007 - SPECIAL EDITION
As the New Year begins, we want to thank all of our partners—businesses, philanthropists, districts, schools, the Florida Department of Education, the Florida Council of 100, the Florida Legislature and everyone who helped to make 2006 such a meaningful and productive year for educational improvement through Council programs in Florida.
Thanks to their steady generosity and vision, educational best practices have become institutionalized in Florida. We would like to acknowledge our supporters below, and offer our gratitude for their assistance:
Advanced Roofing Inc., American Opportunity for Housing, American Ventures Corporation, Amscot Financial, Inc., Ansin Foundation, Baptist Health South Florida, BB&T Co., Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, Inc., Braman Motors, Broad and Cassel, C&C International Computers & Consultants, Century Homebuilders, LLC, City of Lauderdale Lakes, Cobb Family Foundation, Collier Enterprises, Ltd., Colliers Abood Wood-Fay, Colonial Bank, Comcast, CompBenefits Dental & Vision Co., Darden Restaurants Foundation, Easton & Associates, Edward S. Moore Family Foundation, Fiddler's Creek, Flagler System, Inc., Gilly School Vending, Inc., Greenberg Traurig, P.A., Gunster Yoakley & Stewart, PA, Irving and Joan M. Bolotin Foundation, JPMorgan Chase Foundation, JPMorgan Treasury Services - Tampa, Kaplan University, Kenco Communities Inc., Kirk Foundation, Kraft Construction Company Inc., Laquer Foundation Inc., Lennar Foundation, Mckinley Financial Services Inc., Mellon, Miami Beach Senior High - PTA, Michael & Abby Brodie, Miller Family Foundation, Mohsin & Fauzia Jaffer Foundation.Inc., Mr. & Mrs. E. Richard Yulman, Mr. & Mrs. Edward T. Foote, II, Mr. & Mrs. Gerry Hogan, Mr. & Mrs. Meredith G. Dubner, Mr. & Mrs. Sherman J. Kronick, Mr. & Mrs. Steven J. Saiontz, Mr. & Mrs. Ted P. Wittner, Mr. Arthur J. Kobacker, Mr. Chris M. James, Mr. Daniel R. Lewis , Mr. Elliott Stern, Mr. Gary Clarke, Mrs. Sherry Clarke, Mr. Gary L. Grossman, Mr. Gene E. Marshall, Mr. George & Carol P. Bayer, Mr. Glenn L. Halpryn, Mr. James B. Planey, Mr. James C. Brady, Mr. Jeffrey S. Miller, Mr. John Devaney / United Capital Markets Inc., Mr. Joshua Becker, Mr. Richard Finkelstein, Mr. Tim V. Milianta, Mr. Todd Clarke, Mrs. Joan W. Newton, Ms. Alyse Sands, Ms. Dana Kramer, Ms. Elizabeth A. Gosnell, Ms. Faith Risa Kasten, Ms. Helen M. Lane, Ms. Jacquelyn Soffer, Mr. Jeffrey Soffer, Ms. Jessica S. Parise, Esq., Ms. Kim Dorsey, Ms. Mary Conney, Ms. Nancy D. Hershman, Ms. Nedia Hicks, Ms. Pamela A. Ames, Ms. Trudy A Myers Edwards, New York Life Insurance Company, P.L. Dodge Foundation, Paradise Bank, Patel Foundation for Global Understanding, Practice Partners Inc., Premier Networking Alliance Inc., Progress Energy Florida, Inc., Publix Super Markets Charities Inc., Randall McElheney, Raquel & Michael Scheck Philanthropic Fund, Raymond James & Associates Inc., Regions Bank, St. Joe Community Foundation, Sterling Public Relations, SunTrust Banks, The Colony Beach and Tennis Resort, The Graham Foundation, The Haskell Company, The Robert & Mary Graham Family Fund within the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay, The St. Joe Company, The Wilson Family, Titan America, Uhlfelder & Associates PA, Universal Health Care (UHC), Vecellio Group Inc, Vista Healthplans, Walt Disney World, Washington Mutual, Zyscovich Inc.
…500,000 students and counting!!!
Council Activities – 2006: A few 2006 and cumulative accomplishments
which our partners and Council Board achieved working together:
SCOPE, IMPACT & RESULTS
- 500,000 students served
- 2,850 school-based leaders and their leadership skills developed through Council programs and activities
- 100% of program participants report that best practices and instructional leadership skills acquired from programs and events are presently, and will continue to be, used at their schools
- 91% of schools in Council programs, 2003-2005, achieved performance gains and growth in 2006 FCAT tested areas
- 97% of new/beginning teachers trained and retained through Wachovia Teachers and Teaching Initiative Grant Program, 2005; 2005: 16 schools, 26 mentors, 102 mentees; 2006: 21 schools, 27 teacher mentors and 101 new and beginning teachers
- 88% of 2003-2005 Council Academy and Forum participating schools, achieved gains and growth in 2006 FCAT testing
- New generation of Principals developed through Council’s ASAP© online learning, logging 82,164 hours of study, 2003-2006
- Executive PASS program generated from PASS© program, 17 partnerships in implementation, others in exploratory stages
- Student performance data tools & analysis strategies used by 16,208 teachers and administrators in 2006
- 175 new business/philanthropic/community/government partnerships formed from 2003-to-date
- PASS program now at over 60 schools with 9 completed and 3 underway in 2006 alone
- First Executive PASS program in Miami-Dade and the first Municipal PASS in St. Petersburg started
We invite you to find out more about the Council’s 2006 work highlighted in our “Great Things Happen Report”, on our website at: www.changeeducation.org. The report also includes Think Tank activities information and an evaluation section highlighting results and information from all Council programs and activities. (All Council programs have evaluation components.)
Some 2006 Council Philanthropic Milestones:
Successful completion of the $5 Million Miller-Saiontz Challenge Grant including these donors:
- Jeffrey Soffer & Jacquelyn Soffer: $1 million
- John and Selene Devaney: $735,000
- Publix Super Markets Charities: $500,000
- Miller-Saiontz Family: $1 million
The Lennar Foundation completed their pledge and announced their continued support with another generous multi-year sponsorship furthering Council initiatives.
At the closing of 2006, the Council received notification of a substantial gift from the Darden Restaurants Foundation. We thank and welcome our new partner and look forward to collaborating in 2007.
Council Activities – 2007, up and coming:
- Continue to partner with the Florida Department of Education William Cecil Golden Professional Development Program for School Leaders and its other partners to bring Florida’s educational leaders:
- three Assistant Principal Leadership Forums in April
- two Florida Leadership Academies in June and July
- evaluation instruments for William Cecil Golden programs and activities
- online tools and resources to develop leadership, including best practices and learning modules, for all Florida educators
(note: Academies and Forums will be based on previous years but revamped, as needed, to include cutting-edge developments in education and incorporate new standards, best practices and requirements facing today’s educator)
- Continue and evolve assessment and data analysis programs/tools such as ASAP, ELA© and SPSnapshot™ that help educators to formulate strategies to improve the performance of their students through directed and tailored intervention
- Continue and scale-up PASS program funded by the legislature with partnering CEO’s and sponsored statewide by Raymond James Financial; continue and scale-up Municipal PASS
- Work with schools and school leaders, to use student and school performance data as the benchmark, guide, and success indicator for all Council programs and activities, as well as a basic and pervasive school improvement best practice
- Develop new partnerships to expand, scale-up and spread program impact and address current and emerging needs of schools
- Continue, expand and improve groundbreaking work through the Wachovia Foundation Teachers and Teaching Initiative that teams new and beginning teachers with veteran mentor teachers
- Expand Think Tank activities that contribute to education/community improvement and accountability, such as a collaboration with Florida TaxWatch on education issues; develop and disseminate useful information on both best and promising practices
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