SCHOOL BOARD APPROVES BETTER TOOLS,
TRAINING FOR TEACHERS, MORE AFFORDABLE
HEALTH INSURANCE FOR ALL EMPLOYEES

MIAMI –­ Teachers and principals next year will have more up-to-the-minute information on how students are performing through new interim tests and classroom-based assessments approved by the School Board Wednesday.
 
Board Members approved a $6.88 million contract with Educational Testing Service (ETS) to produce tests that will be given three times a year and measure whether students are mastering what the state's academic standards expect.  ETS, a leading educational measurement provider that creates among other tests the SAT and Advanced Placement exams, also will create a bank of test questions from which teachers can pull questions to create their own, more frequent tests.
 
The interim assessments given by the District in all schools will be multiple-choice tests administered in the fall, winter and spring to students in grades 3-10 in reading and math.  Students in grades 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, and 11 will be tested in science.  Because the assessments will be aligned with the Sunshine State Standards, the District will seek the state's approval to use them to replace mandatory diagnostic tests.

In other news, the School Board approved a benefits package for employees, retirees and their eligible dependents that will provide better coverage to more employees while saving the District as much as $15 million. The Board renewed its coverage with United Healthcare, which provided a retroactive premium decrease effective from April 1, 2006, to December 31, 2006, as well as a decreased premium for 2007.

The new benefits package will include the addition of a high-level HMOproduct offered through Neighborhood Health.  Also available will be an alternative medical plan, a lower-cost plan for employees who are not currently eligible for benefits as well as for dependents of those employees and for the dependents of current employees who currently have health insurance.

The Board also authorized a five-day reading academy for 600 teachers of students in grades 6 through 12 who struggle with reading. The reading academy will take place during the summer, and priority will be given to secondary teachers who are not currently certified or endorsed in reading.  The school district is making every effort to ensure that all students enrolled in reading classes are receiving appropriate reading instruction from highly qualified teachers.

A School Wellness Policy became a reality for District schools, asauthorized by the Board.  The policy provides for nutrition education,physical activity and other school based activities designed to promotestudent wellness.  It includes nutrition guidelines for student meals inaccordance with the federal government's Child Nutrition and WICReauthorization Act of 2004, and provides for input from all stakeholders inthe community.

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06-LJG/223/JJS

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