Dr. Bonnie Marmor, Vice Chancellor for Workforce Education
December 2003
http://www.firn.edu/doe/workforce/
From Dr. Bonnie Marmor
Since joining DOE three weeks ago, I have come to two conclusions. The first is that the
Workforce Education (WE) team is composed of a team of professionals who are truly
focused on what is best for students. The second is that I have a lot to learn! I am very
appreciative of all the assistance I have already received and value the input that has begun
coming my way. There are many programmatic challenges that have quickly captured my
attention. High among them is fully grasping the many workforce preparation issues inherent in
the Universal Pre-K initiative. The role of WE providers will be key as this initiative moves
forward. In future newsletters, it is my intention to keep you up to date on this topic and other
relevant issues. My email is bonnie.marmor@fldoe.org and I look forward to hearing from you!
“My best wishes to you and your families for a joyous and healthy holiday season.”
Grants Administration
√
It's that time of the year to plan for the 2004-2005 grant funding opportunities! Grant application information will be posted
on our web site as it becomes available. You may access the information by clicking on "Funding Opportunities" on the
Workforce Education web site at http://www.firn.edu/doe/workforce/.
√
The Office of Grants Administration is researching possible sites across Florida to host the 2004-2005 Drive-In Funding
Workshops in February or March. If you would like to host a funding workshop at your institution, please call Gloria
Spradley, Director, at (850) 245-9053 or e-mail Gloria.Spradley@fldoe.org. We need locations that can host at least 50
participants, preferably with provisions (tables) for participants to write, and accessible parking. Let us know so we can
bring the most recent information available to YOUR area.
√
Florida Is First State To Receive Education Flexibility Grant.
U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige in late October
announced that Florida has been approved under the new State Flexibility Authority Program (State-Flex), making it the
first state to benefit from unprecedented flexibility under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001. State-Flex allows
states to consolidate certain federal formula funds to use as they deem appropriate for state-level priorities in exchange for
increased accountability for student academic progress. Approved states must also enter into performance agreements
with between four and ten school districts,
half of which must be high poverty, allowing those districts to consolidate certain
federal funds to meet the goals of NCLB and make adequate yearly progress in alignment with the state’s State-Flex plan.
For the full press release go to:
http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2003/10/10282003b.html.
Best Practices and Marketing
“All American Success Stories”
The “2003-04 All American Success Stories” campaign winners will be announced in January 2004. The award ceremony to
commemorate the winners will be held in conjunction with the Career and Technical Education Week celebration, and the
Deans and Directors meeting in Tallahassee on February 11, 2004. Plan to attend the ceremony and bring your legislators!
Further details will be forthcoming.
Best Practices Program
Have you submitted your exemplary program so that it will be eligible for listing on the Workforce web site? We are looking
for great ideas to share with others in Career, Technical and Adult Education programs. As of October, the Health Programs
representatives have submitted the highest number (10) of applications. Please take a few minutes to e-mail your teachers to
inform them about the opportunity to participate and share their successes. The applications for the “Best Practices Program”
may be submitted throughout the year. The application is found at http://www.firn.edu/doe/workforce/. We need to capture all
of the successful programs that you are implementing!
Adult Education
Spotlight on a new program
The Immokalee Foundation Jump Start Program
√
On September 2, 2003, The Immokalee Foundation began the Jump Start Program for families with children ages birth to
four years old. Several weeks of preparation, hiring and training staff led to anticipation and high hopes for the “first day.”
Today, twenty-six families are enrolled and attend Jump Start classes. Families with children ages 1 to 23 months attend
Jump Start sessions Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and alternating Fridays. Families arrive at 8:30 a.m. and have a
light breakfast and then proceed to the Parent and Child Time (PACT) circle, where parents and children participate in
singing, reading, finger plays, nursery rhymes and other learning activities. After PACT time, parents spend two hours with
the Adult Education instructor learning English, basic skills and/or studying to take the GED test. After lunch, parents and
children return to their activities until it is time to go home. On Fridays, parents receive two hours of parenting education,
with emphasis on communication and appropriate discipline for young children.
Key measures of adult reading will be measured by the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE). Gains in English Language
acquisition will be measured by the English as a Second Language Oral Assessment (ESLOA).
Child developmental progress will be measured with Ages and Stages and school-aged children of Jump Start families will
be evaluated with the Flynt-Cooter Reading Inventory.
Start-up funding for the Jump Start Program is provided through a one-year Governor’s Family Literacy Initiative.
√
The Governor’s Family Literacy Initiative is a program of the Volunteer Florida Foundation. The grant process is a
competitive funding program for existing literacy programs in the state of Florida that propose to either add a family literacy
program or substantially expand an existing family literacy program. Literacy programs provide direct instruction to one or
more of the four components that include adult education, parent education, quality age-appropriate education for children,
and parent and child together.
The application period for the 2004-2005 grant cycle begins January 2004. The deadline is planned for February 27, 2004.
The application may be accessed on the Internet at www.flafamilyliteracy.org.
These grants are an excellent opportunity for expanding the family literacy grants funded under the Adult Education and
Family Literacy Act - Section 23.
“Families That Read Together Learn Together”
Career and Technical Education
Career and Technical Education Week
√
Are you gearing up for an exciting Career and Technical Education Week on February 8-14, 2004? The theme this year for
2004 is “Career Tech: The Path to Success.” A planning packet is currently available at www.acteonline.org. In January,
Workforce Education will be mailing a proclamation signed by Governor Bush, to deans and directors to promote
Career
and Technical Education Week
.
√
The Association for Women in Aviation Maintenance (AWAM) is accepting applications for eight Maintenance Scholarships
and Awards. These unique opportunities are for a variety of age levels and reflect the diverse skills in the field of aviation
maintenance and technology. The application deadline is 12/31/03. Please visit www.awam.org/scholarships.htm for
details. Contact person is: Nancy Tuvesson at (610) 345-9246.
√
Soroptimist International of the Americas (www.soroptimist.org) provides Women's Opportunity Awards to assist women
entering or re-entering the workforce in obtaining the education and skills training they need to improve their employment
status. These cash awards are for female heads of households who are attending, or have been accepted to, a
vocational/skills training program or an undergraduate degree program. Recipients may use the awards for any expenses
related to their educational pursuits. The program begins at the community level where award amounts vary. Local
winners then become eligible to receive regional awards.
Applicants must demonstrate financial need, cannot already possess an undergraduate degree, and must be a resident of
a member country/territory. Applications are accepted each year from July 1 through December 1.
For more information, visit www.soroptimist.org and click on Women's Opportunity Awards.
Career Development
Nineteen school districts were given up to $5,000 each to develop or update their district guidance plans in 2002-03. The
districts used Florida's School Counseling and Guidance Framework as the model. Career Development hopes to fund
another 10-15 school districts this year. Applicants were only required to produce a district guidance plan based on the state
framework last year, but in the new plan, they will also be required to explain how career development programs will be
improved. All student services/guidance coordinators have been notified of the opportunity. If you have questions, please
contact Zelda Rogers at 800-342-9271 or zelda.rogers@fldoe.org
Workforce Improvement Team
The Workforce Improvement Team streamlined a facilities survey system for all 67 school districts and 28 community
colleges. Approval of workforce education programs is required for requesting Public Education Capital Outlay funds for
school building construction, remodeling and/or renovation. The in-house development of an excel/e-mail system, replacing a
defunct mainframe/paper system, increased the efficiency of the facility survey process.
According to the Office of Educational Facilities staff, "The revised facilities survey form is effective, efficient, and economical.
It presents exactly the information needed, nothing more. The form is uncluttered. The information is clear and sufficient.
The answers are obvious and the format is easy to use. We are saving reams of paper, hours of time, and more aggravation
than you can imagine."
In addition, the new form has been praised by district staff with comments such as, "No longer do district personnel
responsible for completing this task have to rely on Information Technology staff; no longer do forms have to be completed on
a typewriter or done manually, and no longer is there guesswork on the accuracy and reliability of the end product. What took
six weeks before and never resulted in a usable product was completed in only two days! This achievement certainly resulted
in greater worker productivity, saving taxpayer dollars at the district level, and should serve as a model for state/district
cooperation."
Sharing Ideas from Manatee County
A special thanks to Doug Wagner, Vocational Director, Manatee County, for sharing good practices that work.
CTSO Leadership School in Manatee County
For two years now Manatee County has held a Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO) Leadership School. The
event takes place in early October for a half day on Saturday for well over 500 students. The superintendent, school board
members, all CTSO Advisors across the district, school-based administrators, guidance counselors and of course students
are invited to hear motivational speakers who challenge students to become involved in their respective CTSO’s while they
learn life-long leadership skills. They attend sessions lead by graduated CTSO leadership students, vie for the coveted “Spirit
Stick Award,” and enjoy program recognitions.
The message of becoming involved citizens throughout one’s life is loud and clear! Evaluations prove that this event is both
beneficial and educational to students and adults alike. Students in Manatee County begin asking their Advisors about
CTSO
Leadership School
early in the school year!
Programs in Practice Opportunities Prove Positive
Manatee County Adult, Career and Technical Education teachers are provided the opportunity to travel to an exemplary
program within the state, gather ideas while meeting with the classroom teachers and school administrators, and return to
implement those state-of-the-art programs or activities. This activity is in conjunction with a similar program that allows
teachers to visit programs within Manatee County.
The ACT department encourages this philosophy while paying for the substitutes, teacher travel and meals involved in the
trip. The teacher is responsible for sharing with all other teachers of the same discipline via e-mail. If the teachers wish to
replicate any part of what they’ve seen, they are required to submit a New Equipment Request Form that must be signed by
the principal and department chair. Some of the programs that have been visited by Manatee teachers include: Indiantown
Middle, Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS) and Technology programs; Discovery Middle, FACS CHEC lab; Kathleen
High, Agriscience program; Bartow High, Horticulture program; Durant High, Agriscience program; Turkey Creek Middle,
Agriscience program; Winter Park Tech and Mid-Florida Tech, Web and Digital programs; Milton High, Web Design program.
This is the third successful year of this program. If you need additional information, please contact Doug Wagner or Trish
Litton in Manatee County.
Secondary Career & Technical Education Advisory Councils, School District of Manatee County
Partnership Highlights
It has become clear in Manatee County that training young people in Career & Technical Education (CTE) fields requires
more than a few individual teachers. We need the cooperative efforts of schools and the community . . . education and
industry working as a team. With this knowledge at hand, the School District of Manatee County and The Manatee Chamber
of Commerce has committed to developing a district-wide program to implement CTE Advisory Councils in all of its secondary
schools. The advisory councils began in Fall 2002 with a three-phase approach to implementing the councils. The first phase
started with ten councils at the five local high schools. Phase two added five additional councils, and phase three will ensure
that there will be a Council in every career and technical field in the secondary schools. Feeder middle schools are
represented at each Council. There are 15 active secondary advisory councils (five more to begin in December/January),
over 200 business members recruited, and over 4000 students are directly impacted.
The main purpose of CTE Advisory Councils is to provide a real-world connection that will strengthen Career & Technical
preparation for secondary students in Manatee County. Recruitment of advisory council members is broad based and
focused on business/industry, trade, community, local and regional post secondary leaders. Emphasis is placed on diversity
of representatives and reflects the district’s population.
Advisory Council members help identify future trends/new programs, match industry expectations with classroom instruction,
validate the labor market, assist in staff development, support programs with business/industry speakers, job shadowing,
internships, mentoring, etc. Most of all, they share in the educational process and feel that they are making an impact on their
future workforce. Teachers and business members have been enthusiastic about the meetings.
School District of Manatee County, Bradenton FL Contacts: Diane Lehman, Coordinator, Career & Technical
Advisory Councils; Doug Wagner, Director, Adult, Career & Technical Education Manatee Chamber of Commerce, Bradenton,
FL; Contacts: Bob Bartz, President; Jacki Dezelski, Vice President, Community Development & Communications.
From Workforce Innovations
Workforce Florida’s Fall 2003 Partners’ Report available on the web site
. Articles include: State TANF Bonus, Workforce
Innovation, Excellence, Performance and Champion Awards, Short-Term Incentives Performance Awards, and more. To
download, go to http://www.workforceflorida.com/wages/wfi/partners/partners-report.html.
Florida Legislature's Office of Economic and Demographic Research General Revenue Forecast
is now online.
The Revenue Estimating Conference convened on November 7, 2003, to reevaluate the revenue estimates for the General
Revenue Fund for the current fiscal year (2003-04). Underlying the new revenue forecast is a slightly weaker economic
forecast than what was adopted last spring. While the economy has improved, the improvement has not been quite as strong
as expected in the previous forecast. For the current fiscal year, the new revenue forecast is increased to a total of $541.1
million (up 2.6% from the old estimate) as higher documentary stamp tax and intangibles tax collections related to mortgage
activity continue to be strong. To access go to: http://www.state.fl.us/edr/conferences/generalrevenue/grconference.htm.
Meetings
Workforce Education
Upcoming Major Events Calendar
Date
Place
Event
Contact
December 11-14, 2003
Orlando, FL
2003 ACTE Annual Convention
www.acteonline.org
January 15-16, 2003
Orlando, FL
Florida TSA Board of Directors Meeting
Melissa.morrow@fldoe.org
Orlando
Airport
Marriott
Hotel
January 29-31, 2004
New Orleans, LA
Workforce Development Institute
www.acteonline.org
February 11, 2004
Tallahassee, FL
“All American Success Stories” http://www.firn.edu/doe/workforce/
March 14-16, 2004
Washington, DC
National Policy Seminar
www.acteonline.org
Happy Holidays!
FEEDBACK FORM FOR WORKFORCE EDUCATION E-NEWSLETTER
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