The Sunshine State Scholars Program (SSSP) is an unofficial recognition program for students in Florida who have excelled in mathematics and science. Created in 1997 by a group of teachers, Florida DOE representatives, and university faculty, the program has received support annually from the DOE, and has been conducted by an all-volunteer Steering Committee. Several other entities, including the Florida Institute of Education and the Florida Education Foundation have been strong supporters of the program. The program operates through the Florida Institute of Education at the University of North Florida.
Since its inception in 1997, the SSSP has received the philosophical and financial backing of the four major K-12 professional educators’ mathematics and science organizations: the Florida Council of Teaches of Mathematics (FCTM), the Florida Association of Mathematics Supervisors (FAMS), the Florida Association of Science Teachers (FAST), and the Florida Association of Science Supervisors (FASS). Each organization contributes $500 annually toward the program’s operation. They do so because the SSSP recognizes the accomplishments of schools, teachers, and students. By doing so, it draws the attention of Florida’s students and teachers to the importance of maintaining a strong curriculum in mathematics and science, and to the value of high achievement in these areas.
This annual recognition program is conducted in three stages. The first stage takes place in the fall, when each Florida school district is assigned the number of its students it may designate as District Scholars. These students are selected from among the district’s graduating seniors having the highest level of ability and achievement in mathematics and science. The number allocated to a district is based upon its grades 9-12 FTE from the previous year. Each district has its own method for determining these students; however in all districts outstanding student candidates from each high school are reviewed in the process. In some districts, the final selection is based upon a review of portfolios submitted by the students under consideration, in others a district examination is used to make the final decision. There are other selection methods, as well, including individual interviews. The district notifies the SSSP of its nominees by December, and these students are designated as District Sunshine State Scholars by the SSSP.
The next phase of the competition is the Regional Examination that takes place in January. Testing locations (click here to see the map) are established around the state, and each District Scholar is assigned to one of them. At the regional examination, all district scholars receive awards (totes, t-shirt, graphing calculator, certificate signed by the Commissioner of Education, miscellaneous other items). The top performers in each region and the highest performing Scholars from the remaining participants are designated as the ten Regional Sunshine State Scholars.
Upon notification of their success, the Regional Scholars are assigned a research project they will present at the final phase – the Statewide Competition that is held in Tallahassee in March. Each Regional Scholar designates a mathematics teacher and a science teacher who have been particularly influential in that Scholar’s development. These Scholar’s Outstanding Teachers together with the Scholars and their parents are invited to Tallahassee for the March competition. Here, the Regional Scholars participate in a written competition and present their research papers to a panel of experts. Then, all are honored at an Awards Banquet at which the Statewide Sunshine State Scholar in Mathematics and Science is designated, and at which all Regional Scholars and Outstanding Teachers receive awards.
The impact upon students occurs in a variety of ways. First, the competition to become a school’s designee in the selection of District Scholars involves thousands of students each year. Further, the selection of the District Scholar is a matter of pride for the Scholar’s school. The school’s pride is amplified if the student becomes a Regional Scholar, and is then a matter of greater district-wide pride, as well. All of these events call attention of students to the importance and value associated with achievement in mathematics and science.
Another impact on students occurs when certificates of recognition as “Rising Sunshine State Scholars” are awarded to students who achieve levels 4 or 5 on both the mathematics and science portions of the 8th grade FCAT. These awards bring further attention to the value of taking and of succeeding in advanced mathematics and science courses. More than 50,000 such certificates have been distributed to date.
In addition to recognizing the twenty Scholars’ Outstanding Teachers each year, the program has an impact on many other teachers by influencing the level of problems and problem solving strategies being taught in mathematics and science courses. The website, www.unf.edu/dept/sunshine maintains a list of all regional and state examinations that have been administered since the inception of the SSSP, along with their solutions. Students and teachers alike have the opportunity to review these problems, and to see the level of achievement that is required to compete in the top echelon of mathematics and science students in the state. This influences the teachers’ professional development approaches, the curriculum a school might offer, and the students’ selections of courses. A list of District and Regional Scholars is maintained on the website as well, so that students can see the wide variety of schools and districts that have been represented at the top of the SSSP competition.
The SSSP is a successful recognition program that is helping to improve the quality and quantity of mathematics and science courses throughout the state of Florida.
June, 2008
