Approve the Partnership Agreement between the School District of Hillsborough County (SDHC) and the College of Education, St. Petersburg College, as part of the Paraprofessional Transition to Teaching Program, CFDA# 84.350 (Student Services and Federal Programs Division)

This continuing project will be implemented between October 10, 2006 and September 30, 2007, and will provide the baccalaureate-earning teacher-training program to paraprofessionals currently working for the School District of Hillsborough County. The Paraprofessional Transition to Teaching grant-funded program is expected to result in a cohort of paraprofessionals during the grants budget and program periods. Under the partnership agreement, SDHC will provide scholarships for paraprofessional teacher training, training sites and computer lab access for St Petersburg College instructors to provide curriculum, internship placement opportunities for participants, clinical education training for supervising teachers, salary and benefits for the Project Director, course credit reimbursements to participants, and evaluation data as needed. We currently have 20 paraprofessionals and 19 schools participating (see attachment).

GOAL 5. The district will close the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT)achievement gap by a minimum of 10 percentage points as reported by No Child Left Behind.

Funding for the Paraprofessional Transition to Teaching Program is provided from the U.S. Department of Education, Transition to Teaching Program (CFDA# 84.350) and will be included in the divisional Special Revenue/Federal Budget. Administrative costs are included in the grant budget.

Under the terms of the grant, SDHC is responsible for facilitating the project evaluation. SDHC will coordinate the collection of assessment data to the outside evaluator for the grant. The outside evaluator will provide a copy for the annual evaluation report to SDHC’s office of Assessment and Accountability. The anticipated date for project evaluation for the 2006-2007 school year is December 30, 2007.