DOCTORAL LEVEL

MASTERS LEVEL

BACHELORS LEVEL

ASSOCIATES LEVEL

In the words of Mary Cooper, Chairman of the Education Committee for the Kissimmee-Osceola Chamber of Commerce:

"In business, you are always comparing yourself to your competition and trying to figure out who’s the best and how they do it. It is not unusual for a business to hire a consultant to gather the information and compare it to how your are doing in your business. They would hire someone to do the audit for two reasons--it is tremendously time-consuming work and because the competition is not going to tell you how they do the good things they do!

"In the academic world, we are blessed in that school districts are willing to share what they do to get the results they get - but the time it would take to find demographically similar districts and do the comparison would be huge. Fortunately there is an organization by the name of SchoolMatch that does that kind of work, and we are here to welcome them to Osceola County today to begin their site visit as part of our educational effectiveness audit."

Since May 2001, SchoolMatch has collected and analyzed data from each regular elementary, middle and high school in School District of Osceola County. The Audit program was initiated in a similar fashion to that which has assisted hundreds of school systems throughout the country. The SchoolMatch site team conducted an on-site visitation to the School District of Osceola County on January 14-18, 2002.

SchoolMatch evaluators commend school system personnel in attendance during the on-site visit of the SchoolMatch team of consultants for the assistance given, information provided, and the many courtesies extended. It was a pleasure to work with courteous and congenial school personnel and school district colleagues. In particular, the team extends thanks for their time during the site visit to:

• Mary K. Cooper, Lead WorldClass Champion
• Atlee Mercer, Chairman, Osceola Blue Ribbon Task Force

In addition, the site team is grateful for the input received from Superintendent Blaine Muse, Deputy Superintendent Rose Kish, and Assistant to the Deputy Superintendent, Mary Beth Selah.

The team also thanks those who attended meetings and who met with team members during school visits.

The members of the audit team who visited the School District of Osceola County were especially pleased to have a chance to visit students and teachers in the classroom. The students are vivid reminders of how this study might assist the school district and the community to create enhanced educational opportunities for Osceola County’s students.

In the mid-1980s, Dr. M. Donald Thomas initiated the "Audit of Educational Effectiveness" process using carefully designed levels of effectiveness and the SchoolMatch databases. Dr. Thomas, Superintendent Emeritus of the Salt Lake City Public Schools, has achieved national recognition as a widely respected school administrator, state education reformer, researcher, author and speaker.

A few years ago, SchoolMatch assumed the responsibility of working directly with school systems to continue this important process. This educational effectiveness audit compares the School District of Osceola County to similar student and staff population demographics nationwide.

Using a variety of data sources, including SchoolMatch records, data available from the U.S. and state departments of education, professional judgment and research techniques (data analysis, interviewing, polling, and others), our auditors examined a wide range of performance indicators in the School District of Osceola County. These indicators range from test scores to student and staff attendance to public support for the school system (without which no school system can succeed). In each case, the results have been compared against those of the best of similar student and staff demographic populations nationwide.

In initiating the Audit for the School District of Osceola County, SchoolMatch involved four on-site visitation consultants, its databases, editorial consultants, and support staff. The consultants include:

Dr. William L. Bainbridge, currently serves as President and CEO of SchoolMatch, and as a Distinguished Research Professor at The University of Dayton. He is the former superintendent of three school districts in Ohio and Virginia, and former Assistant to the Ohio Superintendent of Public Instruction. He was named Educator of the Year by the Ohio PTA and has served as educational consultant to over 400 corporations and hundreds of school systems. The Fellow of the American College of Forensic Examiners and Diplomate of the National Academy for School Executives is a Lecturer in Educational Leadership and Change for Nova Southeastern University. He has been featured on NBC's Today Show, ABC's Good Morning America, CNN, NPR, CBS radio and over 400 national and local television and radio programs. He earned his Ph.D. at The Ohio State University, and completed post-doctoral studies at Columbia University.

Cameron Harris, M.Ed., Senior SchoolMatch Executive Consultant. She is the former Assistant State Superintendent for Assessment and Reporting, Virginia Department of Education. In that capacity she was tasked with the development and management all statewide assessments in Virginia, including the new Standards of Learning tests which serve as the foundation for Virginia’s educational reform efforts. She also was responsible for the development, production and dissemination of Virginia’s School Performance Report Card. Prior to working with the state assessment program she was Division Chief for Information Systems with the Department of Education. Having worked in both rural and urban school divisions, she has experience in special education administration, program evaluation, curriculum development and supervision. She holds a master’s degree in curriculum and supervision from the College of William and Mary and completed advanced graduate courses at UCLA and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

K. Dianne Katzenmoyer, SchoolMatch Executive Director of Client Relations, and adjunct faculty at Columbus State Community College (OH). She previously served as assistant to the superintendent of the 14,000-student Westerville (OH) School District and Assistant Director of a non-profit organization preparing high school students for career opportunities. She is currently pursuing advanced studies in educational administration and school accountability.

William R. Mason, Jr. M.Ed., is Vice President for Consulting Services at SchoolMatch and Adjunct Professor in the University of Dayton's School of Education and Allied Professions. Mr. Mason is also an American College of Forensic Examiners qualified expert in school litigation issues, a former assistant superintendent of the Newark (OH) City Schools, principal, teacher, and two-time President of the Ohio Association of School Personnel Administrators. He holds a Master’s Degree in educational leadership from Kent State University and continues to serve as an NCAA basketball and Lacrosse official.

Dr. Roderick J. McDavis, is Provost at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. He is former Dean of the College of Education and Professor at the University of Florida in Gainesville. He previously served as Dean of the College of Education at the University of Arkansas and also was Director of the Arkansas Academy for Leadership Training and School Based Management. Dr. McDavis is immediate Past Chair of the Board of Directors of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Toledo.

Megan L. Rand, M.A., Associate Editor at SchoolMatch. She previously served in research with The Corporate Executive Board in Washington, D.C., as supervising editor of Brain-juice.com and as a consultant in textbook development. She holds a B.A. from Miami University, Oxford, OH, and an M.A. from Brown University, Providence, RI.

Martine L. Stephens, M.A., Senior Editor and Audit Coordinator at SchoolMatch, Assistant Professor in the English Department and Writing Resource Center at Ohio Wesleyan University and former Instructor in English for the Osaka (Japan) International University for Women/Summer Institute at Ohio Dominican College. She is completing work on a Ph.D. in English at The Ohio State University.

Dr. Steven M. Sundre, currently serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of SchoolMatch and as a Distinguished Research Professor at The University of Dayton. He is a former Executive Director of the Accrediting Commission on Education for Health Services Administration, Washington, D.C., where he currently serves as the elected public member of the Board. He has been a Kellogg Fellow and former graduate faculty member, The Ohio State University College of Medicine. He serves on the Board of Directors of Support for Talented Students, a non-profit organization assisting lowincome children with special gifts and talents. He has served as a consultant in Duval, Lake, Marion, Polk and Sarasota counties, Florida. He earned his Ph.D. in educational leadership and organizational behavior at The Ohio State University, where he received the Thomas Holy Award in educational research.

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