State of the District 2012 Part 2

At the September 25^th school board workshop was the State of the District 2012 Part 2 presentation.  The presentation covered overviews on the International Baccalaureate, Gifted, and the Professional Development and State Review

I find these State of the District reports invaluable both as a Board member and also as a parent.  I encourage you to view parts of the meeting on video that are of interest to you. (http://new.livestream.com/citrusschools/events/1575816)

IB

Darrick Buettner, coordinator of the Citrus Schools International Baccalaureate program shared that, “IB aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. To this end the organization works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programs of international education and rigorous assessment. These programs encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.”

The IB curriculum contains six subject groups and a core of three parts. The program requires that students study concurrently: three subjects at higher level (240 hours each), three subjects at standard level (150 hours each) and all three parts of the core.

Currently, Citrus has 287 IB students in grades 9^th -12^th.  Current statistics show that 97% passed English, 88% passed            Spanish, 70% passed History and 74 % passed Calculus. While this is not a complete breakdown of all of the IB students’ academic successes  it show a strong trend of the programs’ success.

Gifted

Citrus has almost 200 gifted students in elementary schools, almost 300 students in middle schools and just over 400 in high school.

What does it mean to be “gifted”?  Interpretations of the word “gifted” seem limitless, there are a handful of foundational definitions that range from demonstration of a high IQ to those with a broader conception that include multiple criteria that might not be measured through an IQ test.  The National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) defines it in part as, “A gifted person is someone who shows, or has the potential for showing, an exceptional level of performance in one or more areas of expression.”  Rule 6A-6.03019, Florida Department of States’s Administrative Code, defines gifted as “one who has superior intellectual development and is capable of high performance.”

The district is currently monitoring the Gifted and Accelerated programs throughout our district so as to be able to better service our students in the future.  Look for more information about this area in the future.

Professional Development State Review

The Professional Development State Review occurs every three years.  It encompasses three levels of review; District, School, and the Educator.  Four reviewers visited during the week of February 6^th-9^th, 2012.  The State makes the decision as to which schools to review.  They chose and identified; Central Ridge Elementary School, Crystal River Middle School, and Lecanto High School.  There is four ratings for each standard in the evaluation system; from a low of “1” for “Unacceptable”, “2” for “Marginal”, “3” for “Good”, and the highest of “4” for “Excellent”.

In the 30 areas Citrus Schools was evaluated by the state, the absolute highest rating possible is a 4.00.  The state of Florida’s overall Mean Average for exemplary is 3.5. Citrus received a 3.9. 

In addition to the programs I have talked about, additional district programs in Career and Technical, AVID and Virtual Schools Options were presented and reviewed with similar positive data results.  I again encourage you to watch the meeting and fast forward to parts of the meeting and presentations that may interest you the most.

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