Partners

The Florida and the Islands Comprehensive Center at ETS is collaborating and leveraging the resources of many organizations. Our partners include:

The David C. Anchin Center at the University of Florida (USF)
Edvantia
ESCORT, formerly the Eastern Stream Center on Resources and Training
The Florida Association of School Administrators (FASA)
The International Center for Leadership in Education (ICLE)
JLM Professional Education Services
Robin Wheeler, LLC

The David C. Anchin Center at USF

Located in Tampa, Florida, the David C. Anchin Center was established in 1992. Through its mission and program of activities and research, the Anchin Center strives to assure excellence in the educational future of Florida and the nation.

The Anchin Center, in partnership with the Institute for At-Risk Infants, Children & Youth, and Their Families, developed the Tampa Bay Educational Leadership Collaborative (TELC), and for the past three years this collaborative has served the districts in West Central Florida.

The work of TELC has been fourfold:

Mentoring new principals in Title I schools
Development of executive leaders
Teacher retention and recruitment at the college level
Support for new teachers in the first three years in the profession

Special emphasis has been placed on the critical need to develop and retain teachers for the at-risk school population.

In addition, the Collaborative is the advisory group for the Annual Gifts by the Sea summer leadership conference, cosponsored by ETS. This conference hosts educators from all grade levels and features nationally-renowned speakers.

Locally, the David C. Anchin Center is concerned with providing teachers the help that they need to create superior schools and students. It does so by directing efforts toward the professional development of teachers and the infusion of technology into teaching in ways that encourage student-centered learning.

Nationally, the Center is involved in large-scale evaluation research projects on national reform efforts. Through this research, the Center is able to make recommendations at the federal level that may affect the course of educational reform.

The Anchin Center has recently been awarded the contract for the Florida Region III and IV NCLB Technical Assistance Centers. This partnership will ensure collaboration between technical assistance providers and offer a seamless system of services to clients.

Edvantia

For more than four decades Edvantia has developed knowledge, tools, and professional services to improve education. Through work with schools, districts, states, colleges, corporations, and nonprofit organizations, Edvantia is fulfilling its mission to transform education through research and development. Today Edvantia is a trusted resource in the Appalachian region and across the nation. Our products have touched students and educators around the globe.

Our core capabilities in research, evaluation, professional development, and technical assistance help Edvantia's client-partners succeed in meeting federal and state mandates for high-quality teachers, research-based instructional practices, and school improvement.

Edvantia's capabilities and resources are developed and managed by an expert and committed staff of education leaders, researchers, evaluators, trainers, product developers, and writers. At Edvantia, we view problems as challenges, clients as partners, and education as a process that transforms lives. Our major projects include:

Appalachia Regional Comprehensive Center (ARCC) at Edvantia
Coalfield Rural Systemic Initiative
Tennessee Exemplary Educators
West Virginia Parent Connections/PIRC

ESCORT, formerly the Eastern Stream Center on Resources and Training

ESCORT is a national resource center dedicated to improving the educational opportunities for migrant children. It's located on the campus of the State University of New York at Oneonta. ESCORT receives funding from a variety of sources.

The Center maintains the National Migrant Education Hotline and conducts professional and program development activities to SEAs, LEAs, districts, and schools to improve services to migrant children and other English-language learners. In addition, ESCORT provides technical and logistical support to the U.S. Office of Migrant Education for diverse interstate coordination activities.

ESCORT conducts presentations, workshops, and conferences on issues concerning migrant education. Topics include:

Advocacy
Balanced Literacy
Comprehensive Needs Assessment (CNA)
Early Childhood
Identification and Recruitment of Migrant Children
Interagency Coordination
Intrastate/Interstate Coordination
Mathematics
Multicultural Issues
Parent Involvement
Secondary Education/Dropout Prevention
Special Education

The staff of ESCORT has extensive experience and expertise in English as a Second Language (ESL) and bilingual education programs. Most staff members are certified as Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) trainers. They provide resources and conduct staff development for the planning, implementation, and evaluation of quality programs for migrant and other English-language learners and their families.

The Florida Association of School Administrators (FASA)

Located in Florida's capital city, Tallahassee, FL, the vision of the Florida Association of School Administrators (FASA) is to be recognized as the premier education association in the nation.

Our mission is to support administrators in providing high quality education to the students of Florida through advocacy, leadership and professional development.

FASA was established in 1977 to serve the professional, educational and legislative needs of all public school administrators throughout Florida.

FASA is a united umbrella organization representing five statewide administrator associations:

Florida Association of Elementary and Middle School Principals (FAEMSP)
Florida Association of Secondary School Principals (FASSP)
Florida Association of Instructional Supervisors and Administrators (FAISA)
Florida Support Administrators Association (FSAA)
Florida Association of District Superintendents (FADSS)
Florida Assistant Principals Association (FAPA)

FASA represents more public school and district administrators than any other professional association in Florida.

The International Center for Leadership in Education (ICLE)

The International Center for Leadership in Education (ICLE) consists of a team of the nation's leading educators and administrators led by Dr. Willard Daggett. The ICLE is recognized as a leader in the areas of

high school reform
school improvement
effective use of educational technology in the teaching and learning process ICLE provides consulting services and professional development in these categories.

The International Center works with administrators and teachers to produce diverse materials that combine print and electronic elements. Topics include rigorous and relevant curricula, instructional strategies, reading in grades 7-12, small learning communities, and character education. Gold Seal Lessons, which are based on state standards and matched to high-priority topics on state assessments, have been developed in Mathematics, Science, and English Language Arts for grades K-12. These Lessons will be shared with schools using the Florida and the Islands Comprehensive Center.

The ICLE's Curriculum Matrix correlates the state's standards in English, Math, and Science to mandated tests and to the Curriculum Survey of Essential Skills — a survey of more than 21,000 educators and non-educators who ranked the importance of curriculum topics that high school graduates should know.

The Curriculum Matrix provides necessary data to districts and teachers so that they can determine the academic priorities that will help raise test scores and also focus instruction on the skills and knowledge that students will need to succeed in life. Using the Curriculum Matrix, ICLE is revising Florida's Sunshine State Standards.

The Rigor/Relevance Framework is a tool developed by ICLE for analyzing curriculum, instruction, and assessment across all subjects. It is based on traditional elements of education, yet it encourages movement to application of knowledge instead of maintaining an exclusive focus on acquisition of knowledge.

The Framework is easy to understand and can serve as a bridge between school and community. It offers a common language with which to express the notion of a more rigorous and relevant curriculum and it encompasses much of what parents, business leaders, and community members want students to learn.

The ICLE has created the Successful Practices Network to offer opportunities to share best practices and networking instances with model schools from around the country. The Network

shares research-based methods, activities, and assessments
helps schools help themselves and each other to attain higher standards
shares the nation's best practices, professional knowledge, and expertise among members through activities and on-line resources of the ICLE

JLM Professional Education Services

Located in Quebradillas in the north-west coast of Puerto Rico, JLM was established in 2004. JLM's staff is highly qualified in providing professional development and technical assistance to support the implementation of federal programs to state, regional and district to support student achievement and school improvement.

JLM in partnership with the Florida and the Islands Comprehensive Center at ETS (FLICC) collaborates with the Puerto Rico Department of Education and Federal Affairs Office (PRDE/FAO) to enhance capacity to implement and comply with "No Child Left Behind" requirements.

JLM's scope of work

Title I Implementation study of the PRDE Schoolwide Pilot Project
Parent Involvement Compliance
Federal Programs Title I Monitoring Plan
Statewide System of Support

Current Major Projects

Fortify the monitoring of Title I plans and Federal programs
Collaborate in re-structuring monitoring units at the state, regional and district levels
Provide technical assistance in developing monitoring plans, instruments and protocols
Provide technical assistance to administrators at all levels on Title I monitoring process
Develop, administer and analyze data collection processes
Guide realignment of PRDE Statewide System of Support

Previous Projects

Reviewed and revised guidance documents for implementation of Schoolwide Projects
Reviewed PRDE Schoolwide Procedural Manual
Collaborated with PRDE on the development of a new Comprehensive School Plan aligned with NCLB requirements were address
Provided Professional Development for PRDE State, Regional, District , and School Administrators on NCLB requirements and comprehensive plan completion
Conducted data collection and analysis of Schoolwide pilot project, Supplemental Educational Services and Parent Involvement Compliance of PRDE
Provided training on identifying scientifically based strategies, parent involvement requirements, and needs assessment

Robin Wheeler, LLC

Our firm specializes in the application of technology and information for K-12 classrooms, Districts and State agencies. We assist these organizations with identifying high-value strategic opportunities and with developing the organizational capacity essential for long-term success. Our support includes technology assessments, data quality assessment and remediation, project management, data collection and reporting, developing management metrics and data warehouses, system selection and implementation, change management and IT best practices.

We currently have major projects for

State Reporting of Federal Programs
Data Quality improvement programs
Integrating Student Information Systems into school management processes
Portals for AYP / Title I communications

Previous projects were

State EDEN transition
CSPR Reporting and quality management
Data Driven decision making for teachers
Technology for visual learners (Research Project)
Collecting and using formative assessment data in the classroom
Workflow for essential administrative processes
Effective absentee management
Academic Outcomes of classes with high substitute usage

A key goal for our projects is to assist in the integration of technology at the school and District level to improve student outcomes. From this data we support State initiatives that focus on using school level data to improve program monitoring and effectiveness and to produce Federal Accountability Reports in a more timely and accurate manner.