Minutes: It is the intention of The School Board of
Palm Beach County, FL and the FAU Board of Trustees to create one
or more Substituting with Mentors and Realistic Teaching (SMaRT)
sites in schools throughout Palm Beach County, FL. A SMaRT site is
defined as an elementary, middle, or high school where public
school and university personnel work together to facilitate high
levels of learning by all children of the school by using FAU
students as substitute teachers to work under the direction of an
FAU mentor. The SMaRT program is designed to promote a better
school environment for the preparation of teachers while providing
appropriate content instruction for children when their teacher is
absent from school. Through the collaboration efforts of pupils in
the school, pre-service educators, practioners in the school,
master mentors, and university faculty, a SMaRT site becomes an
exemplary learning environment for the enhancement of public
education. This relationship will be dedicated to improving the
quality of pre-service and in-service teaching. The SDPBS and FAU
will combine resources and provide leadership for the development
of the SMaRT sites. Through collaborative pre-service and
in-service education, both institutions and their faculties will
benefit and be better able to provide improved learning
environments for children and professional education students. The
purpose of this relationship is to enable the parties to 1)
Improve the performance of respective students of each, 2) Extend
mutual research and grant capacity, 3) Apply and model promising
teaching practices, 4) Promote targeted pre-professional
instruction and continuous professional development to improve
student performance, 5) Inform and improve school and university
instruction, and 6) Test innovation means to develop new education
professionals. |