Collegium for the Advancement of Education

Background:

One of the district’s goals is to become a Model Continuous Improvement Organization. Through our Collegium for the Advancement of Education, participants are trained in ways to integrate the Sterling quality teaching tools into their classrooms and to apply the Glasser Reality Therapy questioning process to motivate students to take more responsibility for their learning and behavior. These questions are used to assess learning, academic progress and behavioral choices. Statistics have shown that teachers who have invested in this training and adopted these teaching tools provide higher quality education to their students.
The goals of the program are improved communication, productivity, and effectiveness in teaching. This program provides teachers and administrators with the psychological background on how and why children behave as they do by combining psychology, effective teaching, leadership skills, and intervention strategies. Teachers utilizing these methods are able to provide a balanced, long-term successful approach for classroom management and student achievement.

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Golden Apple Scholarship

In March of 1999 The Foundation for Lee County Public Schools contributed $50,000 into a fund at FGCU (Florida Gulf Coast University) which the FGCU Foundation matched. The $100,000 fund was then matched by the State of Florida. The fund was established at FGCU Foundation to provide a means to financially assist deserving Lee County teachers wishing to improve their teaching skills through courses at FGCU.

Each teacher applying for the Golden Apple Teacher Recognition Program™ may also apply for a scholarship for one 3-4 hour graduate or undergraduate course at Florida Gulf Coast University and up to $100 for related books.

Eligibility: Only teachers who submit a completed Golden Apple Teacher Recognition Program™ application may also apply for this scholarship. Applications, consisting of four questions, are to be sent to the Foundation for Lee County Public Schools electronically. Applicants are notified by email upon receipt of their application. A Selection Committee of community volunteers read the applications “blind”.

Criteria: The course must enhance teaching (not for administration). Between 5-10 applications are awarded each year. Florida Gulf Coast University Foundation determines how many will be awarded after receiving a list of applicants, in ranked order, we submit to them. The number awarded depends on whether the highest ranked applicants applied for Graduate or Undergraduate class and how much funds are available in an endowment we have with FGCU.

The 2023-2024 scholarship will be valid from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025 (4 semesters).