Eduardo J. Padrón
President
Office of the President
300 N.E. Second Avenue
Miami, Florida 33132-2297
305-237-3316
epadron@mdc.edu
Message From the President
Friday, October 14, 2011
MDC's School of Education Baccalaureate Program Ranks Best in State at Improving Student Performance
MDC's School of Education has received much recognition over the years for producing the state's top teachers. Most recently, the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) released a report ranking MDC's School of Education Baccalaureate Program the best in the state at improving student performance on the FCAT.
The FLDOE reported that MDC graduates who spent their first year teaching in Florida public schools saw major increases in their own students’ performance on the FCAT and other standardized tests. The FLDOE matched students' FCAT scores before and after being taught by new teachers to access their learning gains and gauge teacher effectiveness. Eighty percent of new teachers who were graduates of MDC's Baccalaureate in Education Program had more than half of their students make learning gains from previous scores.
The study also measured the success of MDC's Educator Preparation Institute (EPI), an intensive competency-based program designed to allow individuals with non-education bachelor’s degrees to earn teacher certification in an accelerated mode. FLDOE data show that EPI completers outranked completers of the Miami-Dade County Public School alternative certification by nearly 10 percent when it came to learning gains made by students during the new teachers' first year on the job.
The FLDOE report provides additional proof that MDC educators are doing an extraordinary job in preparing new educators for the rigors of today's classroom and in helping students excel on critical statewide assessment measurements like the FCAT. Congratulations to the School of Education faculty, staff and recent graduates for your remarkable achievements.
Thank you.
Eduardo