Sunshine State Scholars [The Competition]

With the establishment of the Sunshine State Standards, Florida accepted the challenge of fostering a higher level of student achievement throughout the school curriculum. To measure our success in helping students reach the level of these Standards, the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test (FCAT) has been designed; currently it assesses how well students understand and can use the concepts and skills embodied in two of the seven areas of the Florida Curriculum Frameworks. The outcomes provide each year by the FCAT surely will reflect the health of Florida's public school system as a whole; the Standards, the Benchmarks associated with them, and the FCAT taken together provide a structure that will promote excellence throughout Florida's public school system.

An important component of developing outstanding students is to recognize and reward exemplary performance. Examples of existing mechanisms through which such superior performance in mathematics and in sciences are honored are the statewide competition of Mu Alpha Theta, the American High School Mathematics Examination, the State Science and Engineering Fair, and the Westinghouse Talent Search. Providing these kinds of opportunities for our students is valuable in that they promote interest and involvement in learning, and also acknowledge the achievement of the capable, dedicated student. This is important -- our future will reflect how well we have succeeded in having our youth develop their reasoning powers and their understanding of the relationships of mankind to the surrounding world. Mathematics and science are particularly important areas for our attention in this regard.

To reflect the value and significance of the Sunshine State Standards, a mathematics/science recognition program for high school seniors throughout Florida was initiated in 1998. This competition, the Sunshine State Scholars Program, provides the opportunity for every district in Florida to showcase its excellent student performance in mathematics and science.

The Sunshine State Scholars Program is unique in that it focuses on seniors, and also in that it assesses both mathematics and science knowledge. It represents an opportunity to recognize those students who excel in the mathematics and science standards of the Florida curriculum frameworks.

A Steering Committee designs and administers the project This committee oversees the development of high quality assessment tools, establishes and monitors the procedures for carrying out both the Regional and the State competitions. It coordinates the judging involved in both of these competitions, organizes transportation for the regional representatives to come to the State competition in Tallahassee, and arranges for both the awards ceremony and the Scholar's recognition and awards. The administration of the Sunshine State Scholars project includes the building of a database of assessment materials for the Electronic Curriculum Planning Tool, which may be disseminated to all districts and schools throughout the State of Florida. Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) assessment materials which are reviewed in the process of building the Sunshine State Scholars assessment tools are also available for this database. The Steering Committee seeks the help and support of educators, business and government representatives to carry out the competitions. Support from the Florida Department of Education ensures that districts are informed of and are given full opportunity to be involved in the program.

The Sunshine State Scholars selection process is carried out in stages at three levels: the District level, the Regional level, and the State level. The District selection process takes place during the fall of each school year. Each school district in Florida is invited to select a number of graduating seniors (based upon its 9-12 student enrollment) to represent it in the Regional competition, and notifies the program coordinators of those students’ names. The Steering Committee does not place any restrictions on any District's method of selecting the District Scholars. However, the districts are encouraged to select students having broad knowledge of mathematics, statistics, physics, chemistry, and biology because of the interdisciplinary nature of the questions asked throughout the competition. The list of District Sunshine State Scholars is finalized in December of each year. These District Scholars then compete for the designation Regional Sunshine State Scholar in Mathematics and Science.

The selection of the ten Regional Scholars takes place in January. A common assessment for that purpose is developed annually under the direction of the Sunshine State Scholars Steering Committee. It is administered statewide on a single day in early January, at sites located conveniently throughout the state. The judges review these examinations and select ten Regional Scholars, including at least one from each of the six regions, to compete in March at the State Competition. The top performer at the State competition is designated the Statewide Sunshine State Scholar in Mathematics and Science.

At the Regional competition, each District Scholar receives a Casio graphing calculator. This is the only calculator the Scholar may use on the Regional or the State examination, and is given to them as a part of their Scholar's Awards Package. The Regional Scholars are announced within a week of the regional assessment through letters of notification, a press release, and through posting on this web site.

The selection of the Statewide Scholar takes place in Tallahassee over a three-day period (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday) in early March. Sunday begins with the research paper presentations in the morning (each Scholar has prepared a research paper on the topic provided to them when they designated as Regional Scholars in January). Sunday afternoon is a time for the Scholars to get to know one another and to visit interesting sites in Tallahassee. On Monday, the Regional Scholars compete in a challenging written examination. At the end of this competition day, there is an Awards Banquet at which the Scholars and their families all are honored. In January, each newly-designated Regional Scholar was asked to identify one mathematics teacher and one science teacher who were particularly influential in developing the Scholar's interest and talent in mathematics and science. Those teachers are honored at the Awards Banquet, as well. On Tuesday, the Scholars, their families, and their teacher/mentors are further honored by State-level government and education officials.

All Scholars receive certificates of commendation, the graphing calculators, and T-shirts. The Regional and Statewide Scholars receive additional substantial awards, sometimes including cash awards, donated by Scholars Program sponsors.