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Title: Recommendation: Description: 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. Financial Impact: For Additional Information, contact: Attachments (list):
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