District Accreditation

1. The School Board of Broward County, Florida District Accreditation 2011 Dr. Leontine J. Butler Dr. Marie Wright Deputy Superintendent, Curriculum Executive Director, Core Curriculum

2. SACS CASI -> AdvancED SACS CASI School Improvement SACS CASI merged with multiple accreditation agencies to become AdvancED the largest accreditation agency in the United States Systemic educational approach for continuing improvement District Accreditation: 5 Year Cycle Global Approach to Education: Best practices from around the world International 5 Year Cycle

3. 2006 Recommendations • Sustain and strengthen the large-scale implementation of the system-wide program and framework for continuous improvement (Stay the course!) • Use technology and training resources to build the capacity of the professional staff to disaggregate, analyze, and use student performance data to inform and direct classroom instruction • Establish and commit to Board policy in the following areas: • Board training requirements and orientation of members related to their role and function as a corporate board • Role and responsibilities of the Board consistent with constitutional requirements • Issues and conflict resolution • Operational definition of equity

4. 2006 Recommendations • Build understanding and provide support for departments and schools to purposely and seamlessly align goals, strategies, and assessments with the strategic direction of the district • Expand the capacity of the instructional staff at the school level to identify, execute, and monitor the impact of research-based strategies for improving student learning

5. Strategic Plan • 3 Year District’s Strategic Plan • Strategic Plan is an important component of Accreditation • The current Strategic plan will be extended for 1 year • Accreditation recommendations will be incorporated into the next Strategic Plan along with the BROAD recommendations

6. Schools Selected: 2011 High • Blanche Ely • Taravella • Fort Lauderdale • Mcfatter Tech. • College Academy • Cooper City Elementary • Challenger • Lloyd Estates • Maplewood • Oakland Park • Parkside • Sanders • Tedder • Winston Park • Bayview • Bennett • Griffin • Sunset Lakes • Collins Middle • Westglades • Arthur Ashe • Indian Ridge • Crystal Lake • Sunrise • Parkway • Gulfstream • New Renaissance • Perry • Lanier - James • Endeavour • Stephen Foster • Meadowbrook • Nob Hill • North Fork • North Side • Boulevard Heights • Chapel Trail • Coconut Palm • Pembroke Pines • Sheridan Park

7. Accreditation Visit October 23 – 26, 2011 The accreditation team arrives Sunday October 23rd and will depart Wednesday October 26th after the Board Workshop Interviews for staff members and stakeholders will be held at JA World – 1000 Coconut Creek Boulevard, Coconut Creek, Florida 33066

8. Day 1 and Day 2 Day 1: Sunday October 23 • Broward County School staff members will meet with the 4 chairs on Sunday to take care of any last minutes preparation Day 2: Monday October 24 • Early morning presentation by the Superintendent to the visiting team • Morning Interviews: Superintendent, ELT, Board Members • Afternoon Interviews: Principals, District Leadership, Community Stakeholders (Held at JA World)

9. Day 3: October 25 – School Visits (2 persons in a team) • Team members will be picked up at the hotel, by SBBC staff, using Driver’s Education vehicles • Teams visit school #1 in the morning and school #2 in the afternoon • Each school visit will consist of: • Classroom and Facilities Walk Through • Interviews: Principal, Assistant Principal, Specialists, Coaches, Teachers, Students, Parents and Stakeholders • Lunch at School #1: • With School #1 and School #2 Principals

10. Day 4: October 26 • The visiting team will hold their final interviews at JA World • Participants Include: Superintendent, Executive Leadership Team, Central Office Staff • Visiting team asks clarifying questions before they write their recommendations • Visiting team meets to write the final recommendations and issue their final report

11. Mission & Vision

12. Standard 1: Vision and Purpose Strengths • The data collection and reporting processes allow all stakeholders the opportunity to engage in data-driven decisions. • The accessibility of data to all stakeholders provides real-time profiles of the system at all levels and disaggregated in all possible ways. Levels of data begin with the individual students, teachers, and schools to demographic subgroups and whole-district snapshots. • The District has implemented collaborative teams to systematically review and realign initiatives to meet strategic plan goals and vision and to proactively align to emerging state and federal regulations. • A robust inventory of current technology hardware and software along with a focus on a 21st century curriculum provides all levels of leadership with the resources necessary to prepare today’s students for tomorrow’s world.

13. Standard 1: Vision and Purpose Challenges • Personnel turnover resulting from drastic funding cuts and legislative changes make long-term planning and project management challenging. • Communication to a highly mobile and diverse community has become an even greater challenge as poverty levels rise and District resources decline.

14. Standard 2: Governance and Leadership Strengths • The District’s various advisory groups, task forces, and community committees provide internal and external stakeholders meaningful roles in the stakeholder process. • School Board Member Maureen Dinnen named ‘School Board Member of the Year’ by a consortium of Florida Education Foundations. • Meetings and supporting documents are available to all stakeholders in the community via television broadcasts and the District website. • Level principals sit on our Executive Leadership team and have input on administrative issues. • The District has cultivated strong and meaningful relationships with state and federal legislators to ensure that local policies align to current and emerging state and federal legislation. • .

15. Standard 2: Governance and Leadership Challenges • Rapidly changing legislation and accountability standards at both state and federal levels require flexible and real-time adjustment by the system from the level of the classroom teacher to the Executive Leadership Team. • Internally, the District has faced the challenge of providing a system of checks and balances to insure that individuals consistently act within established standards of professional practice and ethics. • $149 million in unfunded state mandates • Student population decline of 11% (27,000) due to Charter School growth • Findings of the Nineteenth Statewide Grand Jury in the Supreme Court of the State of Florida (Case No. SC09-1910).

16. Standard 3: Teaching and Learning Strengths • District departments, among and between Divisions, collaborate to support school staff with improving student achievement. • Collaborative Problem-Solving Process through the Response to Instruction/Intervention (RTI) Model is embraced in schools via District support. • The review process for selecting instructional resources is based on effectiveness as evidenced by scientific research. • Lesson plans and supplemental resources are designed based on best practice, and shared with school staff to support effective instructional implementation. • District guidance documents provided to school-based staff bridge requirements of state and local policies with school-based curriculum design, assessment administration, and instructional planning and delivery. • BROAD finalist the last three out of 5 years. • Recognized by the Council of Great City Schools for student achievement the last nine years. • Black students performing at the highest achievement level four and five on state assessments ranked in the highest docile.

17. Standard 3: Teaching and Learning Challenges • Updated versions of technology hardware and software vary among schools/classrooms. • Decreases in school budgets have negatively impacted the staffing of the schools’ media centers. • Budget crisis limits funding, which prevents the purchase of new supplemental instructional resources and replacement resources.

18. Standard 4: Documenting and Using Results Strengths • Aligned interim assessments and progress monitoring tools allow the District to appropriately consider student achievement in the context of the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards (NGSSS), which are being taught in the classroom. • An extensive Data Warehouse provides the District and schools with immediate access to current data that is useful in addressing student achievement questions. • The Data Warehouse and Virtual Counselor allow the District to provide schools and stakeholders with nearly real-time access to student achievement data. • More students than ever are being exposed to college entrance tests such as the ACT and SAT as well as college level coursework through AP, IB, Dual Enrollment, and AICE. This may foster consideration of college enrollment in students who may otherwise have not considered higher education, as well as provide data points for scholarship or grant awards targeting such students.

19. Standard 4: Documenting and Using Results Challenges • With Florida’s transitioning toward computer-based testing (FCAT 2.0, FAIR, PARCC, EOC, etc.) it is difficult for the District to keep pace with the assessment-related technology demands while also keeping technology available for instructional use. • The recent (NGSSS) and future (Common Core) revisions to Florida's education standards will result in substantial changes to the curriculum standards over a short period of time (FCAT to FCAT 2.0 to Common Core). This instability in the curriculum impacts the useful lifespan of instructional materials, ancillary materials, and assessments, creating substantial costs to the districts as we must realign curriculum and assessments several times in a short period. Furthermore, these changes create instability in the accountability systems making for a constantly changing standard by which schools are judged.

20. Standard 5: Resource and Support Systems Strengths • The district has a multitude of professional development programs that provide capacity building, mentoring and incentives to all employees, non-instructional to instructional. Participation in these programs with avenues that allow them to reach their potential and to serve as leaders within their respective positions. • The District has been recognized nationally for budget procedures and accounting measures which serve to foster credibility with District stakeholders. • The District promotes innovation and ownership by internally developing and sustaining operational systems such as transportation, data management, etc. Quality control and expertise regarding operational systems are promoted by the District’s continued commitment to fund and manage the operational aspects of a large, urban school district.

21. Standard 5: Resource and Support Systems Challenges • Decreases in funding and resources have negatively impacted student support services, particularly at the home level of support. • As the system has necessarily downsized, reductions in staff have resulted in a loss of employee quality in favor of seniority. This is because of bargaining unit contracts. • As the system has necessarily downsized, reductions in staff have resulted in a loss of employee quality, and a less diverse employee pool, in favor of seniority. This is due to bargaining unit contracts. • Discontinuation of grant funding has also negatively impacted student support services provided by personnel hired through these funds as well as program resources.

22. Standard 6: Stakeholder Communication and Relationships Strengths • The District’s vision and purpose is broadly shared among parents, community and other stakeholders via a variety of groups, for example: ESOL Department – ESOL Leadership Council; Title I – Leadership Council; Head Start - Policy Council; Parents, Business & Community Partnerships Department – Partners in Education (PIE) Board and Parent Involvement Communication Council (PICC); Exceptional Student Education Advisory; Advanced Academics – Gifted Advisory Council; District Advisory Council (DAC); PTA/PTSA; Broward County Association of Student Councils; Student Advisor to the Board; Technology Advisory Committee; Employee Unions; Facilities Task Force; Supplier Diversity and Outreach Program Advisory Committee; Diversity Committee; Charter School Task Force; and Broward Education Foundation. • Transparency at all District meetings is evident and documented via regularly broadcasted Board meetings, web streaming, and web-based housing of meeting documents. • Parents and community members are allowed to give feedback at Board meetings and workshops. • Multiple methods of communication such as parent-link (which texts and phones parents), local media and BECON broadcasts, and I-Zone meetings provide a variety of easily accessible avenues for reaching the community.

23. Standard 6: Stakeholder Communication and Relationships Challenges • Currently the Executive Director Public Information Officer position is vacant. This vacancy has presented a challenge when attempting to formulate and implement communications systems and procedures. • Until July 1, 2011 the three main community outreach and communication departments were not aligned in the same division. This organizational structure made collaboration difficult. As of the 2011-2012 school year, the Office of Parents, Business and Community Partnerships, Public Relations & Governmental Affairs and Broward Education and Communication Network (BECON) are all part of the same division.

24. Standard 7: Commitment to Continuous Improvement Strengths • BESP is the common language of the District and includes a non-negotiable matrix that ensures a base line of performance consistency in schools across the District. • The District’s data resources allow the schools to concentrate on the action steps required to improve their schools rather than gathering the data to inform their decisions. • The Community is involved in the School Improvement Plan process as a part of the School Advisory Council that approves the School Improvement Plan. • The Broward Enterprise Education Portal (BEEP) provides curriculum resources for students and teachers. These resources are all district approved best practices (application programs, lesson plans, etc.) and permit for resources to be available equitably across the district. • All school administrators are required to be trained in and implement the Florida Continuous Improvement Model (FCIM). • The School district links important information directly to school and district websites from the Florida Department of Education so that community stakeholders can easily access pertinent information.

25. Standard 7: Commitment to Continuous Improvement Challenges • The School Improvement Plan aligns to the Strategic Plan, but the Strategic Plan is out dated. Since the development of the Strategic Plan, there have been a number of changes to school accountability as part of the state’s A+ Plan, No Child Left Behind (NCLB), and to graduation requirements for students. • District professional development has become more challenging during the school day. In part, due to the teacher contract, trainings are more commonly site-based, after work-hours, on Saturdays, during the summer months and online. In the past, district training during the school day was successful in obtaining large participation numbers for professional development. • School based professional development opportunities have been minimized by union contracts, disparate school schedules, and a reduction in force.

26. Preparation Checklist • Mission and Vision Statement- 2006 Recommendations • 2011 Strengths and Challenges- Review Self-Guided Study (Accreditation Website)- Q & A Document Provided to Interviewed Staff Members

27. Broward County Public Schools next accreditation visit will occur in the Fall of 2016

28. Q & A

29. The School Board of Broward County, Florida • Benjamin J. Williams, ChairAnn Murray, Vice ChairRobin BartlemanMaureen S. DinnenPatricia Good • Donna P. KornKatherine M. LeachLaurie Rich LevinsonNora Rupert • Donnie Carter, Interim Superintendent of Schools • http://www.browardschools.com/