Print Article for : Palm Beach Florida Schools

Your Online Guide » Education and Teaching » Articles on Education

[P34]Palm Beach Florida Schools

by Patricia Hawke, Pat

In this day and age, we are required more and more often to be technologically literate. Florida Public Schools need to adapt to that technology or fall behind. We are becoming a mobile society, with the ability to talk to anyone at anytime from anywhere; we can even do a ?virtual commute? and have an office at the park, in the coffee shop, or even at a bookstore. While some districts are slow to rise to the task, others have stepped up to the plate.

The Florida Virtual School (FLVS) was founded in 1997, and was the country's first state-wide Internet-based public high school. In fact, other states wishing to implement this kind of learning opportunity for their students look to FVLS as the model to follow. This is the only one of Florida Schools where funding is tied directly to student performance.

Leaders of the FLVS serving Florida Schools students are committed to deliver high-quality, technology-based education. They hold the following core beliefs about education:

? Every Florida Schools student is unique, so learning should be dynamic, flexible and engaging.

? Studies should be integrated rather than isolated.

? Students, parents, community members, and schools share responsibility for learning.

? Students should have choices in how they learn and how they present what they know.

? Students should be provided guidance with school and career planning.

? Assessments should provide insights not only of student progress but also of instruction and curriculum.

Courses are available to any and all public, private, and home-schooled Florida Schools students. Out-of-state and international students may attend the virtual school by paying tuition. FLVS is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

FLVS employs 380 full-time and 180 adjunct Florida Schools teachers who reside throughout Florida and some who live beyond the state's borders. All FLVS teachers possess a valid Florida Schools teaching certificate and are certified specifically in the subject they teach.

All of this information is definitely impressive. It is easy to imagine what kinds of students would benefit from this type of Florida Schools education. Those Florida Schools students who are home-schooled, have various psychological challenges, social disorders, or other disabilities may find success by attending Florida Schools online. Are there drawback? Of course, nothing is perfect and snowy white. Never meeting face-to-face with one's instructor can hinder the learning process. So much is communicated through body language, and the student would miss out on this valuable information by only studying online. The obvious lack of social interaction with one's peers also exists; students who attend more traditional Florida Schools have a variety of opportunities to experience activities with other kids their age.

While there are easily recognizable, positive aspects for Florida Schools students who wish to attend a virtual school, it is also important to recognize and consider the drawbacks to never setting foot inside any of the Florida Schools classrooms that exist in the state's 67 districts.

One of the things I appreciated, only after graduating college graduation, was that my school employed professors, who had “real world” experience. I cannot tell you how many times we heard a professor say, “Okay, that's what the textbook tells you. Now, let me tell you how it works in the real world.”

Textbooks only give students a foundation on which to build later in a real job. Often times, the real world does not follow the procedures set forth in or look/act anything like those models in the textbooks, making it difficult to adjust. You expect one thing in a new job but discover another, feeling lost as to how to proceed.

The Florida Schools in partnership with the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) are introducing some of the “real world” into the Florida schools. Beginning with the 2007-2008 school year, high school students in the Florida schools will be able to sign up for a major course in entrepreneurship at participating schools.

In June 2006, then governor Jeb Bush signed the A++ Education Act, which offers 442 additional major coursework in the Florida schools. The entrepreneurship course is one of these offerings.

The importance of teaching such a course to secondary Florida schools' students is not lost on businesses that complain across the nation that high school graduates are not prepared to enter today's workforce upon graduation. The Florida schools' entrepreneurship course will teach students vital business skills that will benefit the entire community and economy. With business being primarily knowledge-based, knowing how to use technology and employ critical thinking skills are essential for Florida schools' graduates. As well as providing this training, the new Florida schools' entrepreneurship course will create a new awareness for the students.

The NFTE was instrumental in the development of the entrepreneurship program for the Florida schools. The group is committed to providing entrepreneurship education to low-income and minority youth. They believe that introducing entrepreneurship to high school students gives them greater motivation to stay in school in order to do more with their life after graduation. Entrepreneurship offers hope and an opportunity for many students, who feel that there is nothing for them after high school except minimum wage jobs. It gives them the knowledge and confidence that they can do more.

The nationwide program of the NFTE has shown that entrepreneurship coursework at the high school level decreases the drop out rate and increases the number of students who go on to college. Their claim has been documented by Harvard Graduate School of Education in a multi-year study on the influence of NFTE coursework on school engagement. The NFTE currently has high school coursework programs in 47 states and 16 countries with over 150,000 courses worldwide, and there are 23 Florida schools within the Miami-Dade County Public School District that already successfully use the entrepreneurship program.

With the signing of the Act in 2006, the Florida schools have become the model for school boards across the nation. Florida schools' officials have been receiving telephone calls from as far away as Arizona and California. Other states wish to emulate the Florida schools and their new entrepreneurship program to bring the “real world” to their high school students, as well.

Article Source : Pg. 17

Patricia Hawke has sinced written about articles on various topics from Education, Food And Drink and Education Toys. Patricia Hawke is a staff writer for Schools K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all U.S. public and private K-12 schools. Patricia Hawke's top article generates over 246000 views. to your Favourites.