Summer HEAT 2006 Offers Professional Development Opportunities for Teachers in Miami

An Overview of Summer Heat 2006secondary school level. On the other end of the
Miami Schools are offering a range of summerspectrum, special attention is also given to the design
professional development courses for its public schooland implementation of Pre - Kindergarten curriculum.
teachers and administrators in order to help teachersMiami - Dade County School District teachers are also
meet federal requirements and learn new methodsgiven the opportunity to explore general instructional
and approaches to teaching. Teachers are eligible tomethods to promote leadership in the classroom,
take one Summer Heat course. These courses will beincluding the Continuous Improvement Model (CIM),
offered during June and July. Most courses last aboutObject - Based Learning, and many others.
a week and meet from 8:15 AM to 3:15 PM daily.Professional Development for Administrators
The teacher must attend every day of the session inMiami - Dade County School District administrators
order to receive Master Plan Points. The Miami - Dadealso benefit from the Summer Heat course offerings.
County School District's Master Plan Points ProgramPrincipals, Principal Trainees, and other support staff
help teachers earn the graduate level credits that theyhave opportunities to learn how to improve their own
need to meet the Highly Qualified Teacher Statusperformance and to help motivate the teachers on
outlined by the No Child Left Behind Act. Six Mastertheir staffs. The Principal Preparation Program runs
Plan Points per day are awarded for all the coursescourses for Principal Trainee both in their first and
with the exception of those that grant actual collegesecond year of training. Several meetings of the
credit.Assistant Principal Academy are scheduled to help
Professional Development for Teachersteachers make the transition to administrative roles. In
Miami - Dade County School District teachers benefitaddition, the role of the school psychologist and the
from a range of courses that help focus their teachingteacher - counselor are also explored in various
on special at - risk groups as well as providingcourse offerings. The School Support Team also has
instruction in key subject areas. Many courses focusa variety of courses to choose form in learning how to
on the needs of children with Limited Englishimplement school reform.
Proficiency. These courses help teachers improveUniversity and Community Partnerships
literacy of Limited English Proficiency students as wellMiami - Dade County School District teachers and
as learn culturally sensitive techniques for including suchadministrators rely on the support of many university
children in the general classroom. Other special groupsand community partners. Courses take place at many
include children with autism and children with behavioralMiami - Dade County area schools in addition to
problems.universities and private businesses. Barry University, the
In addition to these special groups, Miami - DadeUniversity of Miami, the University of South Florida, and
County School District teachers have the opportunityFlorida International University all offer their campuses
to enrich their teaching of various core subjects.for professional development courses. The Miami
Courses abound in all aspects of literacy andLakes Educational Center also plays a vital role in
mathematics as well as science, the arts, and socialproviding a location for Miami - Dade County School
studies. Both elementary and secondary education isDistrict teachers and administrators to meet and share
covered, including preparation for teaching theideas.
Advanced Placement (AP) Examinations at the