Authorizer Options for Florida Charter Schools

For most of the existence of charter schools in Florida, there had only been one primary option for authorization of charter schools, Florida’s school districts. Within the last few years, two additional ones had emerged: Florida’s State Colleges and the Florida Charter School Commission. The session discussed these changes to Florida’s charter school authorization and sponsorship processes, along with options for new applicants and existing charter schools.

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Best Practices for Strong Board Governance

Have you ever questioned how high-performing charter schools consistently advanced their mission? Well, it was almost always due to a high-performing governing board working effectively in collaboration with the school’s leadership. Participants attended this presentation to gain insight regarding best practices to keep their charter school’s governing board energized and mobilized towards fulfilling their school’s mission and goals!

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Amplify Your Advocacy: Training for Parent and Principal Advocates in Charter Schools

“Amplify Your Advocacy” was an empowering presentation for parent and principal advocates in charter schools. Participants learned effective advocacy strategies, policy engagement, community building, and communication techniques to drive positive change and amplify their voices for the success of charter schools. They joined and learned how to make a difference leveraging the voices of principals and parents.

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Charter School Funding Through the Florida Education Finance Program

This presentation provided an introductory overview of the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP), which was the primary source of operating funds for all K–12 public schools in Florida. Other topics covered included the reporting of full-time equivalent (FTE) students, new legislation, class size reduction funding, class size compliance, and the charter revenue worksheet.

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Charter School Program (CSP) Grant Funding

The Charter School Program (CSP) team provided an overview of the CSP Grant that the Florida Department of Education oversaw.

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Building a Virtuous Mindset: Florida Civics and Debate

This presentation highlighted what was new in Florida civics education and debate. Participants learned how to access resources and direct support in the implementation of the revised civics and government standards and debate initiative.

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Charter Schools: Management and Monitoring of Federal Grant Funding for Increased Student Achievement

This presentation provided an overview of the management and monitoring of federal funding for charter schools and charter school Local Educational Agencies (LEAs). Participants learned about their responsibilities and how to receive necessary supports to maximize resources for increased student achievement.

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Coaching for the B.E.S.T. Standards for Mathematics

The Office of Mathematics and Science discussed supporting high-quality math instruction by utilizing coach strategies and systems and using the B.E.S.T. Instructional Guides for Mathematics (B1G-M).

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Charter Schools and Career and Technical Education (CTE): A Winning Strategy for Students

Participants had the opportunity to explore the impact of CTE for students, families, and communities in this presentation. They learned how several Florida charter schools leveraged quality CTE programs to prepare students for careers and continued study that transformed their future.

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Comprehensive Management Information System (CMIS) Overview

This presentation provided an overview of the public school data collection process used for funding, accountability, and reporting. Pertinent information about the CMIS and data reporting was discussed.

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Decoding Title IX: Rule and Compliance Implications for Charter and Private Schools

This presentation explored the rule’s requirements, methods of compliance, and optimal approaches to prevent legal disputes related to Title IX, which mandates stringent responsibilities on educational institutions for addressing cases of sexual discrimination or harassment. Title IX’s requirements were binding on all schools receiving federal dollars, even private institutions.

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Due Process Complaints: A Charter School’s Guide to Navigating Administrative Hearings

This presentation served as a guide for charter schools to navigate Due Process Hearings, including recent trends, advocates, do’s & don’ts, available resources, and steps schools could take to prevent them.

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Developing a Powerhouse IT Strategy

In this presentation, the major pitfalls schools faced as they made both short-term and long-term IT and technology decisions were discussed. With the heavy reliance schools had on IT performance and efficiency inside the 21st Century Classroom, a roadmap of “Do’s & Don’ts” was provided to ensure technology was a catalyst for learning within their school(s) versus a frustrating barrier.

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Empowering Education with AI: The Future of Individualized Instruction

This presentation explored the transformative potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in ushering a new era of individualized instruction. The critical role of AI in crafting personalized learning experiences, accommodating the unique needs, styles, and pace of every learner was discussed. The future of mixed learning modalities, including AI-assisted tutoring and hybrid learning, was also delved into. Participants learned how these technologies could elevate the role of educators, support diverse educational needs, and ultimately drive improved student outcomes.

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Elevating Education Through Tutoring: Rethinking Approach

Anthony Salcito delved into the profound impact tutoring could have on supporting individualized instruction in schools. In this presentation, Salcito explored the dynamics of tutoring, examining both its historical value and the urgent need for reimagining its role in modern education. By highlighting the transformative potential of tutor-assisted learning, Salcito shed light on how educators could empower teachers with access to tutors, enabling them to better support their learners and foster personalized educational experiences. The focus was on how to unlock new possibilities in educational practices, propelling the future of teaching and learning.

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FDOE Update

FDOE representatives provided an update on changes — legislative and otherwise — affecting Florida charter schools.

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Florida’s Harm Prevention and Threat Management Model

This presentation provided an overview of Florida’s Harm Prevention and Threat Management Model, including legislation, the School-Based Threat Management Teams and District Threat Management Team, and the workflow and process.

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Florida Resource Round-up: Organizations Dedicated to Charter School Success

Participants learned about organizations dedicated to charter school success in Florida and how to take advantage of their services to support the operations and management of their schools. A Q&A session about new school issues was also conducted, where attendees could bring their questions.

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How did a New Authorizer Build the Best Systems and Supports?

The Florida Charter Institute (FCI) at Miami Dade College was dedicated to authorizing high-quality charter schools that provided excellent education and choices for families. The Institute served as a model for education excellence and provided opportunities for schools to thrive. The presentation discussed the Institute’s goals, policies, and practices to improve charter education in Florida, seeking input from attendees on challenging and supportive authorizing practices. FCI aimed to create a supportive environment for charter schools while maintaining accountability.

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An Introduction to the Science of Reading

The presentation provided a definition of the Science of Reading and a brief overview of some of the fundamental research behind the Science of Reading. Both the Simple View of Reading and Scarborough’s Reading Rope were introduced to build understanding of the skills and abilities needed to achieve skilled reading.

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The Keys to Rapid and Sustained School Improvement

The founders of the Florida Charter Institute (FCI) at Miami Dade College shared their learn-from-the-exemplar approach to developing competency around the key levers of instructional coaching and data-driven instruction. Participants had a chance to analyze footage of leaders, name key actions, and practice implementing best practices while also reflecting metacognitively on the process.

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Language Acquisition and Accommodations

This was an interactive/hands-on presentation where participants learned best practices to help multilingual learners succeed.

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Launch Year Training: Starting Your School on the Right Path

The Launch Year Training was a support network for schools opening in the next year or beyond. This workshop was the first meeting of our new cohort. We reviewed a variety of issues and provided a detailed to-do list of things you needed to focus on to ensure a successful opening.

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Legislative Advocacy 101: How to Share Your Story so that Lawmakers Listen

Participants gained a better understanding of Florida state government and the legislative process, the major factors that influenced policymaking, and how to actually get their message across so that lawmakers listened to them, with specific examples of things they could do to engage their local representatives.

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Let’s Took a Walk: Setting Impactful Look-fors for Classroom Learning Walks that Led to School Improvement

In this presentation, the lead for the FLDOE Bureau of School Improvement’s Field Team discussed how to maximize classroom learning walks through a tight lens of instructional look-fors that led to positive change in teacher practice. Participants were actively engaged in a systemic process of developing school-specific look-fors to maximize efficiency and impact of instruction.

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New Worlds Reading Initiative Overview

New Worlds Reading was a FREE statewide program that advanced literacy and a love of reading by shipping free books and literacy resources to Florida VPK students who were not yet making age-appropriate progress according to student assessments and K-5 students who were not yet reading on grade level in public and charter schools.

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Parentally Placed Private School Students: Public Local Educational Agency Obligations

This presentation provided an overview of the child find, meaning consultation, and proportionate shared responsibilities of a public local educational agency, as well as equitable services and dispute resolution options in Florida.

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The Power of Parent Engagement

Participants learned how and why engaged parents were important for promoting educational options. Topics covered included parent training, engagement, and opportunities for parent advocacy.

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Preparing for the ESSER Cliff

The ESSER funds were a great source of comfort in a time of need, but what was your plan, come next September, to ensure your school’s needs continued to be met post ESSER funding? Discussions with us included some possible solutions to the ESSER cliff!

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The Role of Governance in a Successful Continuous Process and Outcome

In this presentation, Charter Schools USA and Cognia focused on the question: What could governing boards do to support a successful continuous improvement process? Board members were often told about their roles and responsibilities. However, maintaining the fine line of governance in the day-to-day was complicated. Effective governing boards were disciplined, which took time and practice. Content and scenarios were presented, and ample time for discussion/Q&A was provided.

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Scaffolding in Education: The Legos of Explicit Instruction

Similar to scaffolding used in construction to support workers as they worked on a specific task, instructional scaffolds were temporary support structures put in place to assist students in accomplishing new tasks they could not achieve on their own. Participants joined this hands-on workshop to build upon their understanding of scaffolding.

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Presented by:

• Mrs. Liliana Salazar, National Director for Special Education and Student Support, Academica
• Mrs. Alexandra Prieto, Principal, Somerset Academy Miramar Charter School
• Ms. Michelle Rojas, Lead Teacher, Somerset Academy Miramar Charter School

Teacher Apprenticeship Program

The CTE office in the Bureau of Educator Recruitment, Development, and Retention provided an overview of the new Teacher Apprenticeship Program recently created in House Bill 1035, Section 1012.555, Florida Statutes, and answered any questions.

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Handouts:

• DOE Teacher Apprenticeship Program and Pathways Slides
• Teacher Apprecnticeship Program Slides

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Understanding The Charter Application Process

Writing a charter application was a massive undertaking, with many moving parts. This workshop went through each section of the Florida Charter Application and discussed common pitfalls while giving tips on how to effectively work as a team to develop a high-quality charter application.

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Wanting to Be Better is Not Enough

Attendees at this presentation learned how data analysis, actionable practices, and intentional instructional and strategic planning could help leaders meet students’ needs and grow. Engaging in continuous improvement inspired forward-thinking transformational change and new opportunities. Institutions couldn’t just want to be better; they had to take steps to make change.

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Weathering the Storm: Navigating Controversies in the School Environment

Charter schools and private schools could sometimes find themselves under the scrutiny of the public’s eye, particularly in the midst of controversy. This presentation explored frequent pitfalls that led to public relations woes, as well as the various means in which schools could prepare themselves to weather the storm when controversies arose.

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What Everyone Should Have Known About Certification

The Bureau of Educator Certification was committed to providing timely, accurate, and efficient services to all constituents, and this presentation highlighted the entire process and explained the essentials of the Florida educator certification process.

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What Schools Needed to Know: Essential Exceptional Student Education (ESE) and Student Services Requirements for Charter Schools

This presentation shared how schools could maintain required ESE Compliance with their practices, policies, and procedures and addressed emerging concerns resulting from recent state complaint data and Due Process Ordered Action in exceptional student education.

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Your School Had a Facilities Loan: How to Maintain Compliance?

After a facilities loan closed, a charter or private school’s long-term compliance work began. Participants learned about the typical loan requirements and how to establish facilities finance policies and compliance procedures that survived staff and Board transitions and endured the test of time.

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Presented by:

• Ms. Melissa Gross-Arnold, Shareholder, Arnold Law Firm
• Ms. Danielle Suhr, Principal, Ivy Hawn Charter School of the Arts