Through the Race To The Top grant, Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS) was awarded two additional grants to create and review assessment items in two Hard-to-Measure subject areas.  The items to be created and reviewed are for 20 different courses in Career and Technical Education and 24 different courses in Physical Education/Health Education.   A portion of each of the two grants has been dedicated specifically for professional development training for teachers in HCPS and for teachers throughout the state.  This professional development is to deliver training to these teachers on writing items and reviewing the effectiveness of these items.  The intent of the grant is to allow an independent provider to present the training to ensure that the participants become more effective item writers and reviewers.

OnHand Schools, Inc., has a solid reputation for providing outstanding professional development in the educational field and is available to provide the district with their services on a short notice.  OnHand Schools would provide 320 hours of training instruction in four two-day training sessions and would utilize five trainers for each two-day session.