BUSINESS DEPARTMENT FACULTY HANDBOOK

It is recommended that as a department head, a Business Department Faculty Handbook be developed that will serve as a guide to teachers about the goals and objectives that the departmental team plans to accomplish during the school year.  Information from the Department Head Manual can also be included to give additional information or guidance with procedures for completion of important forms.  A sample Business Department Faculty Handbook has been created as a separate document and should be included as part of this manual.  Please feel free to make necessary changes and personalize it to meet your unique school situation. It is recommended that the Business Department Faculty Handbook be distributed to all members of the department and discussed at the opening school year departmental meeting.

Department Pride & Teamwork

As a department head, one should develop creative ideas that will encourage teamwork and pride amongst our peers.  Purchasing of department t-shirts and official nametags will promote the program as well as encourage teamwork if a specified day is designated where all department members wear the attire.

MARKETING THE BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM

Business Education Program Philosophy:  Business Education provides a variety of specialized programs structured to prepare students to enter and/or upgrade employment in a cluster of business occupations upon completion of the prescribed competencies.  The occupational proficiency program areas include industry-standard software on state-of-the-art equipment in accounting, clerical, networking, information technology, and business administration, etc.  Business Technology students attaining the prescribed competencies are prepared to meet the projected employment opportunities in a changing technological society.

Recruitment of students into the various programs will require the use of communication through different media.  Some examples are:

Brochures        available through the district office.  Also, several     brochures are posted on the http://bte.dadeschools.net web site.

Flyers              around the school, in classrooms, open house, and at club or school fairs

School              The development of a departmental web page on the school’s web

Web Page        should be kept up to date and should reflect the ongoing activities of the department and student career technical organizations.

Media              The Miami-Herald school scene can be used for any purpose.  Write a general overview of the course offerings in your department. This would be an excellent resource to reach out to students, parents and the community.  A powerpoint presentation on how to write a press release is included for your use as a separate file entitled, “Writing Press Releases.”

Classroom       This process is an ongoing tool that will assist with

Visitations         promoting the various programs and certifications that can be obtained.

Open House    Dedicate a day for an Open House event where counselors, teachers, students, and parents can come to view what the Business Technology Department has to offer.

Long-term        Create a project that will be dedicated to the recruitment of students throughout the year.  

Curriculum--Board Policies and Procedures  

Frameworks  

Business Technology Education follows prescribed frameworks for each program (BTE does not use CBC’s).  Frameworks may be downloaded from http://www.firn.edu/doe/dwdframe/be/be_frame.htm.

Master Schedule

All Business Technology department heads need to be actively involved in the scheduling of students process.  Your active participation throughout the school year will help to ensure that your program continues to thrive as a viable and needed program at your school site.

Reporting of Student Progress

Tracking of student progress is a critical part of the Business Technology Program and will assist with completion of the Final Class Report.  Therefore, each teacher should develop a form to keep track of student progress towards program completion.  Upon the completion of the program or successful attainment of an Occupational Completion Point (OCP), a certificate of completion can then be awarded to the student.  See Appendix C1 for the OCP Certificate and Appendex C2 for the Program Completion Certificate for sample form.

Gradebook

As you are aware the District’s goal is to become paperless.  The online gradebook has been implemented in some schools and has proven to be successful.  As the Department Head, you are encouraged to seek training for your department and to implement its use.  To date, the Excelsior Gradebook program has been the one used by most schools.  You can get additional help with this program by contacting a school that is currently using this program.

Lesson Plans

Lesson plans are critical to the daily operations of a classroom and essential to effective instruction. Classroom teachers are required to develop weekly lesson plans, which shall reflect one or more objectives, activities, homework assignments, and a way of monitoring student progress. See Appendix D, for a suggested lesson plan format. 

PACES 

PACES is the ongoing assessment of teaching and learning by teachers, their colleagues, and administrators for the purpose of professional development. The need for continual professional growth is a priority for teachers because teachers have the most direct, ongoing influence on student learning.  http://paces.dadeschools.net/ is the website for anything and everything you wanted to know about PACES.  The following links may be helpful:  http://paces.dadeschools.net/teacherguide.htm is the Teacher’s Guide to PACES and the procedures manual can be found at http://paces.dadeschools.net/Orange%20Book/Orange%20book%20toc.htm.

On this same website, the following link http://paces.dadeschools.net/vignettes explains through the use of vignettes each PACES domain and associated assessment indicator(s) using a text passage and a video vignette. The vignettes are included for PACES Domains I-IV for each assessment indicator required for the annual evaluation of all M-DCPS teachers. Each vignette provides an example of a good teaching and learning sequence that addresses the indicator in a classroom. After viewing a video vignette, you may find it helpful as a department for personal growth and learning to envision how this PACES assessment indicator would play out in your business classroom(s). As a department head, you should encourage your department to work together as colleagues to discuss how a given PACES assessment indicator might be addressed in different business curriculum content areas, such as Business Law, IT, BST, Accounting, etc.

CRISS

CRISS training (CReating Independence through Student-owned Strategies) is provided on an ongoing basis by the district. CRISS was developed to help students better organize and retain course information. The CRISS training provides discussion strategies, active strategies for learning and organizing, writing strategies, vocabulary, and assessment. It is hoped that through the application of these strategies, we can provide students with the tools they need to “Learn How To Learn.” Please encourage your teachers to avail themselves of this training to incorporate CRISS strategies into their everyday teaching. For more information on CRISS, please visit http://www.projectcriss.com/projectcriss/pages/general_info/principles.html.

Graduation Requirements

Many states require high school students to earn 24 credits for a diploma.  Florida students may still pursue 24 credits, but an 18 credit option is being offered as a way to help alleviate class size in high school.  The required course loads: 

*JROTC class, which includes drills, also can count toward 1 credit of physical education.

Standards – SCANS – FCAT

The following links can be used to download the Sunshine State Standards for Mathematics and Language Arts.  This documentation should be printed and made a part of the teacher’s lesson plan book. 

http://www.firn.edu/doe/curric/prek12/pdf/langart9.pdf

http://www.firn.edu/doe/curric/prek12/pdf/math9.pdf

Sequence of Courses

The Business Technology Education District Department provides brochures that will assist you with identifying the different programs available to our students.  It has pertinent information that can be used on a daily basis and help with the planning of the master schedule.  It also gives information about the OCP’s that the student has met after successful completion of coursework. 

For an up-to-date listing of programs and course offerings in a convenient brochure format that can be used for promotional purposes, access the bte web site at http://bte.dadeschools.net/Documents/Business%20Ed%20Brochure.pdf. 

PROGRAMS OF STUDY

Curriculum Frameworks

The Student Performance Standards that correlate to each business course and should be included in the lesson plan can be obtained at

http://www.firn.edu/doe/dwdframe/be/be_frame.htm.

Work-based Programs

Business Cooperative Education ( BCE )

The work-based program for Business is Business Cooperative Education, an educational program that provides the opportunity for selected, qualified students to work in business occupations before high school graduation. 

Students take their required high school courses and a course in BCE Organization and Management or a related business technology education course in the morning and receive their on-the-job training in a professional office in the afternoon. Students receive elective credit(s) for work hours.  Additional information on program requirements for both students and employers, can be obtained at the following link:

http://bte.dadeschools.net/bce.htm.

Internships

This is an integral part of the curriculum for Business and it is hoped that every effort is made to secure training for students in the various professions.  This involves a great deal of networking with various businesses, community affiliations, and district offices. By accessing the “EDWORKS” website you can get a listing of available jobs and these employers may be willing to have an internship option.

Final Class Report

This report is generated by the District to determine the number of completers in a specific program and whether students have attained the appropriate Occupational Completions Point (OCP) level by program.  This information is collected and is sent to the State to determine eligibility for funding.  It is very important to provide accurate information in order for your school to receive the funding allocation that it achieves.  The final class report has been made much easier for teachers to understand and interpret by following the guidelines that is outlined in the manual that is sent to your school.

Bright Futures Scholarship

This scholarship rewards students for their academic achievements during high school by providing funding for them to pursue postsecondary educational and career goals in Florida .  Completion of a Business Technology program allows students to qualify for the Gold Seal Scholarship.  Specific eligibility requirements can be found at: 

http://www.firn.edu/doe/bin00072/home0072.htm

Articulation Agreements  - exist between Miami-Dade County Public Schools and Miami-Dade College for Business Technology Education in the following programs:

            Academy of International Business

            Accounting Operations

            Customer Assistance

            Business Supervision and Management

Articulation Agreements between Miami-Dade County Public Schools and postsecondary institutions exist for all business technology education programs.  A brochure explaining these agreements is available at http://www.edworks.org.